Firefly
by Reinamy's Cloud
Summary: In which Aburame Shino is the moth and Uzumaki Naruto is the flame. Female!Naruto.
1. Curiosity

**Title/Author: **Firefly _by_ Reinamy

**Pairing:** Shino/fem!Naruto

**Summary: **In which Aburame Shino is the moth and Uzumaki Naruto is the flame.

**Warnings: **Canon AU, genderswap, language, fluff, angst, time skips, wordiness, Shino-feels, slow build, romance like whoa.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Naruto_. This is non-profitable fan work. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Because Shino is fascinating and fem!Naruto is awesome and the combination of the two makes me want to squeal in fangirlish glee.

In other words, welcome to my first Naruto fic! I hope you guys enjoy it! Please read the warnings before you start the chapter and get ready for what I hope to be an emotional ride. Thanks for checking out my story.

* * *

**PHASE I: CURIOSITY**

"_Curiosity is a lust of the mind."_

- Thomas Hobbes

* * *

Aburame Shino was five years old the first time he saw her. It was during his weekly excursion to the playground, something his parents deemed important in order to get him to socialize with his non-familial peers, and, as usual, wasn't succeeding in the slightest.

It wasn't for lack of trying on his part. Shino was aware of the importance of human interaction with members of the same age group and how it contributed to his mental and emotional development, which was why he genuinely tried to get along with the children his parents tried to steer him towards. The Aburame name, however, had a stigma attached that even those who had never come into contact with them was wary of.

It didn't matter that the Aburame clan was one of the four noble clans of Konohagakure, or that their specializations were pivotal to the village. For unfathomable reasons outsiders could not overlook the fact that they were the human hosts of insects, and they looked at his clan members as if they were bugs taking human form. Shino reluctantly accepted the fact that most children lacked the intelligence necessary to distinguish a distinction, but in his experience even adults, who really should have known better, reacted the same way.

More than once he had overheard others talk respectfully of his clan's many accomplishments, and yet those same people could neither conceal their aversion to being in close proximity with them, nor hide how unsettled they were by the tools they used to achieve success.

Shino's parents often assured him that _things_ would be different when he got older and that he'd one day meet people who would be capable of seeing him for _him. _And while Shino did not particularly enjoy having such little faith in his parent's wisdom, he couldn't find much evidence to support it. While his parents had indeed made close acquaintances outside of the clan such a thing seemed to be more the exception than the rule—and Shino, for all he liked to pretend that having friends mattered very little to him, was disheartened that he might not be as fortunate.

It had been another wasteful day. The moment he approached the children at the playground they instantly became wary. They didn't outright refuse him from participating in their games but they were hardly welcoming, either, and were painfully unsubtle in their unwillingness to get too close to him. Shino persevered for exactly one hour before he bid his temporary playmates goodbye and retreated to the security of his parents. As always, he pretended not to notice their poorly hidden sighs of relief.

Shino pushed his glasses further up his nose as he considered what logical argument he could make that would persuade his parents into reconsidering the necessity of those weekly visits. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the figure rapidly approaching, and by the time he did it was too late to do anything but shift his stance, recall his allies back inside of him, and prepare himself for the inevitable pain.

The person crashed into him with such force that no amount of prior bracing could have made the encounter less painful. They fell to the ground in a flurry of joints and limbs and Shino couldn't help the small groan of pain he released when the person on top of him finally stopped flailing.

He stared up at the dusty blue sky somewhat dazed, uncaring for the moment that his glasses had been knocked askew, and struggled to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him.

"Ow," a distinctly female voice whined.

Shino considered telling the girl that if anyone had the right to complain just then it was _him_, but decided against it. It would solve nothing.

After reassuring himself that nothing had been sprained, twisted, dislocated, or broken, Shino started to sit up. His efforts were thwarted when a face fell over his, thankfully blocking out the harsh glare of the sun, and he was met with a pair of the bluest eyes he had ever seen.

"Hey, hey, are you alive?" his accoster asked.

Shino had half a mind to tell her that such a question was redundant if she still had cause to _wait _for an answer, but the comment died in his throat when she leaned forward to peer at him, as if to make absolutely sure he wasn't dead.

"I'm fine," Shino grunted, and the face hovering over his immediately broke into a wide smile.

Perhaps it was the glow of the sun that illuminated her blond hair into tendrils of gold, or the enormous grin that softened the curious whisker marks on her cheeks into something less fierce. Maybe it was the way her sapphire-blue eyes sparkled with amusement, with life, and her body vibrated against his with a vitality that seemed to seep through his clothes and into his skin. It might have been any of those things, or a conglomeration of all of them. In the end, Shino supposed it didn't matter; the result was the only thing of true relevance, anyway.

The moment they were on their feet she was moving again, arm raised in a wave as she ran off. Shino wanted to tell her that she should probably pay more attention to her surroundings if she wanted to avoid knocking herself and another unsuspecting victim to the ground, but the words wouldn't come. His tongue felt heavy in his equally tight throat and he absently wondered if he were getting sick. That would certainly account for his sudden bout of lightheadedness and stomach cramping. He couldn't figure out where his thundering heartbeat factored in and dismissed the idea of myocardial infarction almost immediately. He lacked several symptoms.

Shino wasn't aware of time passing, and as such, didn't know how long he'd been standing there, staring after a girl who'd long since disappeared. His parents had eventually come to retrieve him but when they asked what troubled him Shino found he couldn't answer. He'd never before had trouble with articulating his thoughts but now...now they scattered like dust particles whenever he tried to arrange them into something coherent.

Shino reasoned that his difficulty stemmed from his inability to understand it himself. He didn't know what was wrong with him aside from the physical indicators, but he had a feeling that there was more to it than that. A cold might certainly explain some of it, but it didn't explain why his thoughts were so disordered and why he couldn't bring himself to stop thinking about the girl who'd all but tackled him to the ground.

Hair like spindled gold. Soft almond skin. Eyes the color of the ocean during the sun's zenith and just as vibrant, just as vast. A blinding smile that rivaled sunlight against birthmarks that should have looked intimidating yet somehow weren't.

Brash. Reckless. Vivacious. And so completely unrepentant about it. She'd crashed into him with the force of a hurricane and hadn't once apologized for it. She was wild and she was shameless and she knew it.

Shino tended to dislike such impropriety. It indicated abrasiveness, insolence, and conceit; traits that were heavily frowned upon within his clan and for good reason. Arrogance caused imprudence which hindered logic and threatened structure. Disarray and unproductivity was the result of irrationality and instability. It was why the Aburame clan were so uncompromisingly self-contained. While they were not the insects they carried, the conduct and structure of the clan was in accordance with them. Insects were beings of pragmatism. Each and every one of them had a duty, both to their colonies and their environment. They did not let emotions get in the way of their responsibilities, and that was a principle instilled into the minds of each generation of Aburame. While it was important to remember that they were above all else _human_, it was equally important to restrain human instincts and impulses when they threatened to obstruct one's goals.

Shino should have been repulsed by her behavior. Her carelessness had caused him harm and she hadn't even taken a moment to apologize before she was tearing off again, no more wiser than she was before. She was rude, and reckless, and brutish, and wild, and Aburame Shino had never, ever met anyone so mesmerizing in all his five years of life.

* * *

He never saw the girl again.

He tried finding her but there was only so much a five year old could do with only a name to go on. She never returned to the park when he was there and when he tried to ask around he was constantly stonewalled. She was blond and she had blue eyes, but there were quite a few kids with blond hair and blue eyes in their village. It was only when he described her strange birthmarks that he got answers but they were all…peculiar. Not to mention the furthest thing from helpful.

According to the other children her name was some variation of _Naru_. She was their age, she didn't belong to a notable clan, and she was annoying. She was also something of a pariah. The kids didn't know why, but most of their parents had warned them about befriending the girl. Apparently she was _really bad news_ and _best to be avoided. _

After he'd finished prying every ounce of information out of the them he'd gone on to confront their parents. He'd asked the same questions and said the same things, and while their answers had been similar in nature to that of their progenies, their physical responses had been so very different.

Hatred. Fear. Disgust. Unadulterated loathing.

The girl's name was Uzumaki Naruto and she was a _monster_.

They never said more than that and outright refused to elaborate, but it was a consensus between them. They were insistent that the girl was the living embodiment of evil and that Shino would do well to not go near her, lest she corrupt him.

Shino would have been quick to dismiss it as fantastical nonsense but their expressions had made him reluctant to do so. They reminded him of an enemy nin he'd once seen being apprehended by ANBU. The man had attempted to steal a forbidden scroll from the Hokage's tower and Shino and his father had stepped out of the building just in time to see the man get slammed into the pavement, two of Konoha's deadliest forces pinning him in place. Shino had only been three at the time but he could still recall the look on the man's face even now. He'd been furious, spitting mad and halfway insane from it, but there'd been fear in his eyes, too, the kind born from helplessness and despair and the assurance that future suffering would be as great as it were inevitable.

The villagers had looked like that, too, when they spoke her name, as if they had committed the greatest sin just by doing so and she'd appear at any moment to consume their souls.

The fact that they referred to her as _it _and _thing _only reinforced his apprehension. Shino had never been one to take others' words at face value, especially words as dubious as _that_, but the conviction in their words, hardened by audible steel and barbed wire, made him wary.

He sat on the data for two days before deciding to ask his parents. He doubted he would get any further on his own and the information he'd gathered so far produced more questions than they answered. It helped that he could always trust his parents to tell him the truth, no matter how insensitive or unforgiving it was.

"Mother, father," Shino started. He waited for them to set down their bowls, as was polite, and continued, "Who is Uzumaki Naruto?"

Shino saw their eyebrows rise from above their glasses and he shifted in his seat. That his parents would outwardly show their surprise was worrying.

"Why do you ask?" Shibi inquired, peering at his son.

Shino wished he'd had the foresight to bring his glasses to the dining table. He felt vulnerable under his parents' intense gazes and it took extreme effort not to look away.

"She…ran into me several weeks ago. I've made a few inquiries about her around the play center," he glanced at his hands, oddly embarrassed by his interest in the girl, "but the information I've gathered has been unfruitful at best and…unsettling at worst."

"I see," Noriko murmured. She sounded thoughtful, which was reassuring. Shino had come to them fully aware that they might react the same way the other adults had, particularly if there was some basis of truth to it. That they weren't reacting so strongly or negatively calmed some of the nerves he'd been carrying with him the past few days. If Uzumaki Naruto was really dangerous his parents would have immediately forbidden him from interacting with her. There caution was still apparent, which was evidence enough that there _was _something going on with the girl, but clearly it wasn't anything perturbing enough to cause distress.

"The girl was orphaned during the attack of the Kyuubi no Kitsune several years ago," Shibi eventually said.

"Who were her parents?" Shino asked immediately.

"We're not at liberty to say," Noriko intoned.

Shino nodded. That his parents weren't allowed to reveal their identities was significant. He filed the thought away to peruse later.

"The villagers claim she's a monster," Shino said, taking note of the way they tensed and visibly forced themselves to relax.

"Is she, then?" he prompted after several seconds of silence.

One of the reasons why he'd been so reluctant to acknowledge that there was an inkling of truth behind the villager's words was because he couldn't fathom why the Hokage would allow something so supposedly dangerous to exist within the village. It was illogical. That his parents hadn't reacted severely to the mention of the girl's name had assuaged his worries, but now…

"No," Shibi said, then repeated more assuredly, "no, she's not."

Shino wilted with relief. "Then why…?"

"It's…complicated," Noriko admitted. "We're not allowed to discuss the details of that either, but…your father's right, Shino. She's not a monster. The villagers are…not entirely logical in their treatment of the girl."

Another thing that his parents weren't _allowed _to disclose. Shino filed that tidbit away, too.

"So neither of you would mind if I were to approach her?"

His parents glanced at each other. Words weren't spoken but Shino knew a conversation was taking place, anyway.

"We don't oppose," Shibi eventually said. "Whether you choose to befriend her or not is a decision that should be made based on your own observations and personal judgment."

Shino nodded. He would have done so anyway.

"Tell me, Shino, what is your impression of Uzumaki-san so far? I admit that I've never met the girl personally."

"You said she ran into you?" Shibi asked.

"Yes. And then she proceeded to continue running with little regard to the people around her, clearly not having learned her lesson." Shino paused and added, "Also, she didn't apologize."

Noriko sounded almost amused when she said, "I see. So the first impression wasn't very favorable, I take it?"

"No, I…" Shino trailed off, trying to think of a way to describe what he'd felt. It wasn't the best of impressions, certainly, but it hadn't necessarily been a bad one either. "She's…" he struggled to find a suitable description. There were so many words he could use to describe her, some of them not quite good and others not altogether bad, but the words that were coming to mind weren't _enough_. Like puzzle pieces they all contributed to a larger picture, but when separated they didn't make much sense, not to those who didn't have the foresight to see the end result.

Shino could say that she'd been rude, and coarse, and reckless, but she wasn't _only _those things; she was also sincere, and charming, and _bright_. He didn't know how to explain that those traits were an interconnected web because it didn't make much sense even to him. Yes, she was rude, but rather than making her seem arrogant it just made her seem _sincere, _like she refused to offer platitudes she didn't mean. Yes, she was coarse, but instead of coming across as annoying it just seemed _charming_, as if her crassness was a part of her she refused to hide to appease the sensibilities of others. And yes, she was reckless, but that just made her seem _alive_, as vibrant and bright as the sun breaking unrepentantly through a blockade of clouds.

She was all of those things and so much more and Shino didn't understand how a girl he'd met for all of two minutes could have possibly made such a massive impression on him. It didn't make any sense.

"Interesting," he found himself saying, lost in the memory of sparkling eyes and shining hair and a smile that promised mischief. "She was…interesting."

He completely missed the thoughtful looks his parents shared across the table.

* * *

Shino was one of the first to arrive at Konoha's Shinobi Academy. After a two-hour long orientation in which the new students were supplied with a brief overview of the origins, history, and purpose of the Academy and a more detailed explanation of the rules, expectations, and structure, Shino was finally assigned a class: _Umino Iruka and Shigeki Mizuki, class 1-A._ He had little difficulty in finding the room, which was considerably larger than he'd expected. He took a corner seat towards the back, opposite the window, and waited.

A minute later two others arrived—Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji—and they nodded at him briefly before claiming seats towards the middle.

Nara and Akimichi were one of the few children that Shino had actively sought to befriend when he'd been younger. They had been logical choices, both of them coming from prominent clans and being of calmer dispositions, like he was. The Nara's were revered as a clan that valued intelligence and produced geniuses, and from what he'd gleaned from his father, the Akimichi's were well-known for being the most open-minded and progressive of the clans. To a child that hosted insects inside his body, they'd seemed the most suitable prospects; Nara would have been intelligent enough to realize that hosting kikaichuu did not make _him _one, and even if Akimichi didn't quite understand, he would have been open-minded enough to not care.

Shino hadn't been wrong in his assessment. Nara _had _been capable of making the distinction and Akimichi genuinely _hadn't _cared. What he hadn't taken into account was the fact that Nara was nearly as reticent as he was, making interaction between the two awkward, and that he and Chouji were best friends, leaving Shino to feel like the odd one out. He couldn't understand the inside jokes and references they shared (when Nara deemed to speak), and Shino was honest enough with himself to know that he'd been jealous.

He had kept company with the two for a week before he determined it a lost cause and stopped trying. In the end, it was less painful to have _no _friends than to be a third-wheel to people who clearly weren't interested.

More people began to trickle in. Shino counted nineteen before an adult who he assumed was either Umino Iruka or Shigeki Mizuki sauntered in and shut the door. The man, a chuunin by the look of it, was of average height and build. He had an inviting face and his only distinguishing feature was a long, thick scar that ran across his face. He spent several minutes flipping through various folders, writing in a notebook, and organizing his desk. Shino had to wonder if the man was new to teaching.

"Quiet down," the man suddenly barked, surprising Shino and shattering his first impression of him as a mild-mannered individual. The man waited several seconds for all activity and noise in the room to cease before he continued, "My name is Umino Iruka and I will be your main instructor for the duration of your time here at the Academy. Your other instructor, Shigeki Mizuki, will be joining us shortly. You will refer to us as _sensei _at all times and raise your hands when you have questions. Speaking out of turn will _not_ be tolerated, understood? Now keep quiet while I call out your names and raise your hand so I can see who you are. First, Aburame Shino?"

Shino raised his hand and Umino-sensei glanced at him, marked something on the notepad he was carrying, and called the next name. Shino let his arm fall back to the table.

"Akeda Sayuri?"

"Akimichi Chouji?"

"Deguchi Keitaro?"

"Fukuzawa Masuru?"

"Hyuuga Hina—"

"H-HERE! I'M HERE!"

The whole class flinched when the door slammed open with enough force to rattle the walls and a girl wearing a bright orange civilian dress rushed in, red-faced and panting.

Blond hair. Blue eyes. Whisker-like birthmarks. Shino sat up in his seat and stared in astonishment as the girl leaned forward and gasped for breath.

"I-I'm s-sorry I'm late," she wheezed, staring sheepishly at the irritated teacher. "I-It won't happen a-again."

"Name?" Umino-sensei gritted out.

"U-Uzumaki Naruto! N-nice to meet ya, sensei-san!"

Shino caught the man's minute flinch from the corner of his eye but couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze away from the girl who Shino had thought had vanished from the village two years ago. He felt something that bordered on anticipation when he realized that the girl—that _Uzumaki Naruto—_would be sharing the same class with him for however long it took either of them to become genin. That was, unless she got kicked out of the Academy for tardiness first.

"Do not make a habit of being late, Uzumaki-san. This is your first offense so I'll let you off with a warning, but there will be repercussions the next time. Now take a seat."

Shino doubted he was the only one to notice how frigid the man's voice had become, but unlike most, he suspected it was not wholly attributed to her unpunctuality. Uzumaki didn't seem phased in the least, however. She simply saluted the teacher, scanned the room, and practically skipped her way towards one of the few empty seats.

It took him a moment to realize that she was heading in _his _direction, likely for the empty seat adjacent to his. A peculiar feeling settled into his stomach and Shino forced himself to look away as she approached. He returned his attention to the front, where their teacher was continuing the roll call with more irritability than Shino personally deemed necessary.

His ears twitched when he heard the seat beside his being dragged against the tiles. There was a loud creak as a body fell into the plastic chair, followed by the thud of a bag hitting the table, then the soft rustling of papers.

"Hi!" a voice suddenly chirped in his ear.

Startled, Shino glanced sideways to see her leaning towards him.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. How do ya do!"

It felt like an entire minute had passed before Shino could bring himself to answer. He slowly nodded in her direction and was rewarded by a smile so blinding it could have easily been labeled a B-rank offensive attack. He blinked against the flashing spots in his vision and carefully answered, paying little heed to the way his heart was curiously hammering in his chest. "I'm Aburame Shino. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Uzumaki-san."

Her nose scrunched up, presumably at his formal response, but when she opened her mouth to speak she was interrupted by a piercing whistle from the front of the classroom.

"Take out your syllabi and the Academy regulation book," Umino-sensei commanded. "We'll begin an overview of what we'll be covering this term, our expectations of you, and what's required of you to advance to the next class. Afterward Mizuki-sensei and I will give you a tour of the building and the facilities we'll primarily be using. Ah, and here's Mizuki now."

Another chuunin stepped into the room, this one slightly shorter and slimmer than Umino-sensei, wearing a dark bandana over shoulder-length white hair. He, too, came across as amiable, but Shino would not repeat his earlier mistake of categorizing the man without further observation.

Mizuki-sensei, as they were instructed to call him, made his introductions and the class was promptly pulled into an elaborate discussion of the curriculum.

When Shino finally caved several minutes later and turned his head to observe the girl, it was to find her…sleeping. He had to bite back an exasperated snort. He took the opportunity to study her without fear of interference and practically drank in the sight of her. For the past two years Shino had nothing but the memory of their brief encounter to content himself with, but even that had begun to fade despite his best efforts. The human memory, while superior to that of other animals, was still disappointingly limited as a storage unit, and with time Shino had begun to lose the memory of what she looked like until only a vague recollection of blue eyes and blond hair had remained.

Looking at her now was like a dream. Half of her face was obscured by the crook of her elbow and her eyes were firmly shut, but it was still more than he'd had even a day ago. Uzumaki's hair, which was styled short and messy, was brighter than he remembered, more yellow than conventionally blond. Her skin was still several shades darker than his, golden-hued and seemingly flawless. The whiskers were as mischievous-looking as ever, branching out from a dainty nose and full lips and curving over cheeks still round from childhood.

She was…she was _beautiful_. Shino could think of no other word in that moment to describe her. She appeared calmer in sleep, vivid features softened into something chaste, and Shino was enthralled. Blond eyelashes against almond skin, tufts of hair spilling over pointed ears, a hint of moisture at the corner of a well-defined mouth; it all contributed to a visage that left Shino strangely breathless.

That a girl such as her, who contradicted everything the Aburame clan stood for, could illicit such a response from Shino, who prided himself on both his stoicism and integrity, was staggering. Shino calculated the problems such an attraction could arouse and knew what he _should_ do to curtail it before it got out of hand. The girl was _dangerous_; he barely knew her and already she was making him question ideals that had been impressed upon him since birth. Worse, she was causing him to behave _irrationally_, for there simply was no logic in his excessive reaction towards her. If she could cause such instability without even trying then Shino shuddered to think of what she'd be capable of if she actually were.

Distancing himself from such an unknown, though potentially dangerous, variable, would be the most logical course of action to take. Shino _knew _that. And yet he didn't think he could. He imagined himself ignoring and avoiding her like so many others in the village did and the picture it painted was disquieting. No, he couldn't do that—not to her, and certainly not to himself. Even if she was detrimental to his well-being and her friendship had no tangible benefit for him (aside from giving some semblance of peace of mind), Shino couldn't imagine abandoning the opportunity to get to know her better. Not when he'd spent the past two years wishing for such a chance.

His attention was briefly drawn to the front when Umino-sensei cleared his throat and announced that they'd soon begin the Academy tour. The classroom fell into a burst of activity as the students rummaged through their belongings for what their sensei assured them they'd need.

Shino turned to Uzumaki and hesitated. He thought of his concerns, deliberated on why they were founded and what reason he had to dismiss them, but…in the end it didn't matter. For the first time in his life Shino was going to do the illogical thing, and he couldn't even bring himself to care.

He reached out and placed a hand on Uzumaki's shoulder and gently shook her awake. Bleary blue eyes peered up at him in confusion and Shino hid a tiny smile behind his collar.

"Uzumaki-san, our class is about to leave for the tour."

"Tour?" she murmured tiredly. After a few seconds it seemed to click and she shot up from the desk and exclaimed, "The tour! Oh man, I can't believe I fell asleep! What did I miss, huh? And did we go over anything important? Did the teacher notice? Oh man, this sucks! This is the last time I'm going to rely on that stupid alarm clock, believe it!"

At the end of her tirade she glanced at Shino and shot him a sheepish grin. "Oh! Um, thanks for waking me up! I would've been toast if the teacher caught me snoozing! By the way…what's your name again?"

"Aburame Shino," Shino said slowly, marveling at how much of a spaz the girl apparently was.

(Shino didn't want to know what it said about him that he found such a thing so endearing.)

"Shino-kun! That's right! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, just in case you forgot!"

"I remembered, Uzumaki-san."

The girl made a face at him. "Ugh, _please _do not call me that. It's Naruto. Or Naruto-chan. Heck, even Naruto-_kun_. Anything but Uzumaki or with _san _attached, alright?"

Shino pushed his glasses further up his nose and nodded, secretly pleased. "Naruto, then."

Naruto beamed at him. "Then I'll call you Shino, too! By the way, are we supposed to bring anything with us?"

"Just a blank notebook and pencil."

Naruto immediately began to rummage through her bag. She went at it for a long while, face scrunching in determination with every second that passed. Shino watched in impolite amusement as she eventually turned over her entire bag and stuck her head inside.

"Eh, Shino…?" she muttered, pulling her head out. Shino hadn't thought it possible, but her hair looked even messier. "Could I possibly…" she trailed off, glancing at the pencil that lay on Shino's outstretched hand. "Oh," she continued blankly.

When she didn't move to take it Shino glanced at it, expecting to find some deficiency with it, but the pencil was perfectly sharpened and looked sturdy enough so he couldn't understand her hesitance.

An alarming thought flashed through his mind that perhaps Naruto wasn't as indifferent to the Aburame name as she appeared to be. He looked up warily, bracing himself in case he were subjected to the same expression of polite disgust that so many others wore around him. What he discovered instead was a look he had no hope of deciphering but still made something hot coil in the pit of his stomach.

"Thanks," Naruto whispered, eyes shining suspiciously. She reached out and gently retrieved the pencil. Her slender fingers curled around the wood like it was something delicate.

"Hey, Shino? Would you like to be friends or something?" she asked cautiously. Her gaze never left the utensil in her hand.

_Or something_.

Shino licked his suddenly dry lips and forced that uncomfortable thought from his mind. He exhaled slowly and wondered how such a simple thing like an offer of friendship could seem so _pivotal_.

"I…yes. That would be acceptable."

Naruto's expression abruptly changed. Within the blink of an eye she was once again beaming, eyes half-shut and smile spread wide. It was infectious and Shino couldn't help but return a small one of his own, even if she couldn't see it.

Shino looked forward to the day when she'd be able to read his expressions without physical evidence, like his father's partner, Inuzuka Tsume, could with him.

_Or something._

"We're going to be the best of friends, I just know it!" Naruto practically yelled. Shino didn't have the heart to tell her that his ears were perfectly functioning and as such, shouting wasn't necessary.

"I agree," Shino commented, just to see if her grin could stretch any wider.

It could.

* * *

**_to be continued._**

* * *

**[OMAKE]**

"Hey, Shino, what are you looking at?"

Naruto settled in beside him and peered closely at the tree he was studying, eyes roaming over the bark like its patterns and arches held secrets she wasn't privy to but desperately wanted to know.

"The insects," Shino said in a monotone. He carefully observed her face for signs of disgust and relaxed when he saw none there. There was only curiosity and interest, and Shino suspected none of it was feigned.

"Oh. You like bugs, Shino?"

That was certainly putting it mildly. "I'm fascinated by them," he said, unashamed to admit his interest in something most people were repulsed by.

"Oh. Yeah, I get that," Naruto nodded, surprising Shino. She astonished him further by turning to him with sparkling eyes and exclaiming, "There's this place I like to go to by the river and it's always real quiet 'cause no one ever goes there, probably 'cause it's hard to get to but _I _can 'cause I'm small, but anyway, there's lots of flowers and trees there and I like to lay in the grass and watch the bugs, too. They're kinda interesting, right? Like they have their own little world or, or some _secret society_ or something, where they're just like us except they think _we're _the gross ones. It's kinda cool to think about, right?"

Shino stared at her wordlessly.

"You should probably finish your lunch, though, 'cause I think the break is going to be over soon and then—"

"My clan is renowned for using insects in combat," Shino interrupted her, mouth forming words faster than his brain could provide them. "At birth we're offered to special breeds of insects as organic nests. They enter our bodies through the pores in our skin and remain in symbiosis with us until we die." Shino adjusted his glasses and continued evenly, "it's a mutually beneficial arrangement between us. They take refuge beneath our skin and in doing so are given a limitless food supply and a secure area to breed, and in exchange they give us access to their unique talents and allow us to use them in battle.

"The breed I host are called _kikaichuu_ and the Aburame are the only clan in the Elemental Nations capable of utilizing them in such a way."

Shino fell silent and observed Naruto, who was doing an admirable impression of a koi. She stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes and Shino had to wonder if his impulsive decision to share such sensitive information had been the best decision. He would have told her eventually, of course, but perhaps it might have been more considerate of him to wait until she'd known him for longer than a day.

He didn't want to scare her off, which was a shocking realization. At some point in his childhood Shino had become accustomed, and later desensitized, to others rejecting him because of who he was and what he contained. In retaliation, or perhaps as a defense mechanism, he'd developed and abided by the opinion that those who could not accept him were _worthless_. Shino's pride in his clan and his allies was as much a part of him as the colony beneath his skin, and to undermine that by pandering to the delicate sensibilities of others felt akin to personal treason.

Shino did not see the value in wasting time, or effort, in trying to sway the minds of imbeciles and endear himself to fools. He supposed it was a cynical outlook for a seven year old to have but there were only so many times one could be rejected and shunned before they built a bulwark to stave off the…humiliation.

And yet there he was, worrying over the opinion of someone he barely knew and mulling over ways to make her feel comfortable with him. Shino was certain that if someone were to place a mirror in front of him right then he probably wouldn't have been able to recognize himself. The idea that she was _dangerous _reared itself again but before Shino could chase the thought he was interrupted—perhaps fortunately, perhaps not—by an earsplitting shout that made him wince.

"That. Is. So. _Cool!_" Naruto cried, and she moved _closer _to Shino—not away like he would have expected and like so many others did. She shifted so close their knees touched and leaned forward with little regard to propriety or personal space. Shino was beginning to understand that she didn't comprehend, or care about, the meaning of either.

Though he'd never been tactile or keen on being touched he found he didn't mind it so much when it was her—the familiar feeling of aversion replaced by something almost pleased.

Shino felt like a pearl in the mouth of an oyster beneath her elated, fascinated gaze; like he was something unexpected, and valuable, and entirely new. There was none of the morbid curiosity or veiled dislike he so often saw. None of the unease, or fear, or contempt. Her face was as open as the sky was wide and Shino felt something splinter inside him, and something else begin to heal.

"So you have a whole bunch of bugs inside of you _right now_? And they can do whatever you want them to?" She asked through narrowed eyes as if she was trying to see through his clothes and skin.

Shino wordlessly lifted his arm and a black insect, barely larger than a grain of rice, scuttled out of his sleeve. More followed, crawling out through his skin and joining the others, until they covered every visible inch of skin.

Naruto clenched her hands into fists as if she was trying her hardest not to reach out and touch.

"So what can they do?" she asked, eyes riveted and unblinking.

Shino, feeling hopelessly overwhelmed, disclosed what he was permitted to while he struggled to deal with the realization that he'd just fallen in love.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, and drop a comment if you enjoyed the chapter!**


	2. Transition

**Author's Note: **Keep in mind that this story is, above all else, a love story. And a slow one, at that. The main focus is on Shino, Naruto—_as seen through his eyes, _and their relationship. It will be character-driven, pairing-centered, and will follow a snapshot-like format (covering the span of their lives). I will eventually delve into certain major events (i.e., the chuunin exams, the invasion, etc), but for the most part this story will be utterly focused on the dynamic between those two characters_. _And now that that's out of the way, please enjoy chapter two!

* * *

**PHASE II: TRANSITION**

_"The logic of the heart is absurd."_

- Julie de Lespinasse

* * *

"Again, Naruto!" Shino commanded, shifting his stance. He brought his arm up just in time to block a well-aimed kick to his head and grunted at the impact. Instead of lowering her leg as Shino expected, Naruto spun on her right heel and attacked him again, this time aiming for his lower abdomen. Shino instantly tightened his guard but the momentum of her spin added unanticipated force to an already strong kick and Shino's defense was blown wide open. He managed to block most of the attack but even being glanced at by Naruto's heavy hits was damaging. Shino was forced to retreat rather than risk another bruised rib.

He barely had time to settle into his new position before Naruto was on him again, attacking with a rapid barrage of kicks, punches, and jabs. He blocked them all, though not without effort or repercussion; his left arm was already starting to go numb and he knew that if he didn't go on the offensive soon he was going to be overwhelmed.

He ducked a high lateral kick and zeroed in on an unexpected opening. There was no time wasted on deliberating; he instantly went for it, right arm bending low and rotating to a thirty-degree angle. Shino curled his fingers toward his palm and made his move.

His fist was merely centimeters from the targeted area when he felt something heavy collide with his back and he was slammed to the ground. He barely had time to gasp in shock before his face was pushed into the grass and a body crashed on top of him, pinning him in place.

It took him a moment to register that he'd been deceived by an _amateur_ trick.

How humiliating.

"Ha! I _knew _you'd fall for that, Shino! Oh yeah! I'm the best!"

There'd been a time when Shino would have berated Naruto for her unsportsmanlike conduct, but those days had long since passed. Shino would have had an easier time of controlling the weather than attempting to curb Naruto's competitiveness, and somewhere along the line he had simply accepted the fact that she would behave inappropriately whether she lost or won.

Case in point, when Shino grunted at her to get off of him, she did so unnecessarily slowly. Shino snorted when she leaned over to grin at him, her head tilted impishly to the side. Behind her the sun blazed like a golden halo and made her hair glimmer like concentrated sunlight.

Shino forcefully tore his gaze away just as Naruto continued to speak.

"I think the score is…twenty-six to twenty-eight in my favor, right, Shino?" she teased, smiling broadly. "You need to keep up before I get so far ahead you can won't be able to catch up!"

Shino rolled his eyes and accepted the hand she offered him. Once he was on his feet he diligently swept grass and dirt from his ruined clothes. His arm ached, but he ignored it.

"Your speed has improved by at least fifteen percent," Shino commented as he retrieved his glasses from where they'd been knocked to the ground. "I experienced increased difficultly in keeping pace with you."

As he expected, Naruto basked in his praise.

"Your defense is getting better," she returned. "And you're getting stronger, too. I lost track of how many times I hit you before your guard broke."

Shino nodded appreciatively, grateful for the commendation even if he was already aware of his progress. He fell into step beside the one person who could claim to be his best friend, and they made their way out of one of the smaller training grounds the Aburame clan owned and towards the main house.

"I stink," Naruto said absently, sniffing herself. It was crude, but Shino had long since given up on trying to instill manners into her. "Not as badly as you, but still."

Shino was too exhausted to be appropriately offended. "Not all of us are gifted with your unnatural stamina," he pointed out.

"I guess," she muttered, pensively.

Shino didn't need to look at her to know what expression she was wearing. It was the same one she always wore when the subject of her abnormally high stamina, chakra levels, and rapid healing abilities came up—something caught between wonder, curiosity, and trepidation. Shino had long since shared with her his theory about it being some kind of kekkei genkai, though he'd never been able to narrow it down to what. It was the most viable conclusion, but without knowing who her parents were it was mere conjecture, and Naruto was more resigned than satisfied with the knowledge that she might never be sure.

They entered the house and immediately stripped out of their shoes and outer garments, which they carried to the wash room and promptly shoved into a hamper for one of the servants to take care of. When Naruto began to pull off her shirt, Shino turned away and grabbed a clean robe from a shelf. He deposited the rest of his dirty clothes and slipped the dark garment on with a sigh of relief. He still desperately needed a bath but for the time being it would suffice.

"All done," Naruto said, and Shino turned around. She was wearing a similar robe, only a shade or two lighter than his own and embroidered with patterns of koi fish. Her messy waist-length hair was pulled into a low ponytail that fell over her shoulder, and Shino could see clumps of dirt scattered within the blond strands.

"Let's hurry up so we can get clean already," she grumbled, hoisting the hamper up into her arms. Shino quickly looked away when he saw the orange strap of her bra fall over the rim. "Ugh, I think I've actually got dirt in my _mouth_."

Shino snorted in equal parts amusement and agreement, and lead the way to the baths.

* * *

"Hey, Shino?" Naruto asked, interrupting him from his reading. She leaned over and slumped against him, her own book forgotten on her lap.

Shino shut his book, resigned to the fact that he wouldn't be finishing the chapter any time soon. Naruto sounded thoughtful, and that alone required his full attention. It didn't help that she was pressed firmly against his side, the heat of her body seeping through the thin material of their robes. His shoulder was becoming damp from where her poorly-dried hair hung between them and he had to fight against the urge to run his fingers through the dark strands and smooth out the visible tangles.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Do you think we're going to pass tomorrow?"

Shino adjusted his glasses and dipped his head in understanding. This was about the genin exams, then.

"And by _we _what I really mean is _me_ because let's face it, you're going to pass. There's seriously no doubt about that."

Shino didn't have to think about his response. "Naruto, the likelihood of you failing is significantly lower than eighty-five percent of the kunoichi in our class."

Naruto bit her lip. "I only _just _learned how to get the clone technique right, though," she said anxiously. "And I still mess it up sometimes. What if I get so nervous that I can't do it?"

"Then the logical thing would be to not get nervous."

She whacked him. "Easy for you to say, mister-I'm-always-in-control-of-my-emotions. Some of us don't have that luxury!"

"You're going to pass, Naruto." Shino shifted so they were nearly facing each other. "We've both prepared for the exam to the best of our abilities and exerting ourselves further would only put us at a disadvantage. Stop worrying needlessly."

There was a moment of silence, and then, "But what if I—"

Shino cut her off. "If the unexpected transpires and you fail then I'll simply request to repeat another term. That is the only outcome that will satisfy both parties. Worrying will not help," he stressed, eyeing her over the edge of his glasses.

Naruto's mouth fell open and she stared at him with wide eyes. Her disbelief was palpable. "W-what? Repeat a—"

_As if I would actually leave you behind, _Shino thought with annoyance. Not to that place where the instructors made attempts to sabotage her at every turn. Shino barely had time to convey how inconceivably obtuse he thought she was before he was tackled roughly to the bed. He registered the new and wholly uncomfortable position they were in and went still.

Naruto's arms were wrapped around his neck and her body was pressed firmly against his front, and despite the layers of cloth between them, thin as they were, Shino could still feel _everything_. Every tantalizing curve, and enticing arch, and tempting dip.

When she shifted against him and a curtain of wet, honey-scented hair fell over his face, he had to bite his cheek against the urge to groan.

_Logically_, Shino knew that they'd been in far more compromising positions in the past. Not only were they an unavoidable outcome of sparring, but Naruto had little to no respect for the concept of personal space. Shino was no stranger to being manhandled to the ground after a fight or bearing the physical brunt of an impulsive tackle when Naruto was particularly excited, yet he couldn't help but notice how _different _the circumstances currently were.

He marveled at how something as simple as a change in location could cause such a significant shift in perception even as he struggled to remain unaffected as his friend wriggled above him.

Shino could admit that he wasn't faring as well as he would have liked.

"Naru—"

"You're the best friend in the entire country. No, the whole _world_," Naruto interrupted him, tightening her grip. Shino hadn't thought it possible for her to get any closer and yet she _was_.

He clenched his jaw as heat rose to his cheeks and wondered, perhaps melodramatically, what he had done in a past life to deserve this.

"God, Shino, you have _no_ _idea_. I swear won't let you down! Believe it!"

"I have little doubt," Shino gritted out. "However, I'd appreciate it if you would get off of me." He thought quickly and added, "You're…surprisingly heavy considering your size."

It worked like a charm.

Naruto leaned away and glared at him murderously. She might not have always behaved the way most girls their age tended to (to Shino's immeasurable relief) but there were certain things that even Uzumaki Naruto was defensive about. Her physical dimensions were one of them.

"Hey! Take that back," she snapped, rising up to her knees. She smoothed down the material over her stomach and said, "I'm not fat, you jerk!"

"I never said you were," he intoned.

He nearly wilted in relief when Naruto finally climbed off of him.

"You sure as hell implied it!"

"I believe I said that you were _heavy_," Shino commented mildly. He sat up and placed his book conveniently on his lap, thanking a god he didn't quite believe in that Naruto was too riled up to notice. "There's a significant difference."

"Barely," Naruto shot back. She flopped onto her back with a huff and it took every ounce of self-restraint Shino had to not follow the delicate arching of her chest.

"I mean, I have no intention of being stick thin like those other girls in our class," she scrunched her nose in distaste, "but I don't want to be, like, _Chouji's_ size or anything, either. Kiba will _never _like me back if I'm not in good shape, so you have to honestly tell me if I'm getting fat, alright? I swear I won't hit you if you do."

And just like that, Shino's already-tremulous mood plummeted.

There weren't many people who Shino could say he genuinely hated—frankly, he had more important things to do with his time—but Inuzuka Kiba was the exception. Shino hated—no, he _loathed _the boy with every fiber and molecule of his being.

Their teachers and classmates assumed that their mutual antagonism was a result of having conflicting personalities, and Shino supposed there was some truth to that. Whereas Naruto's recklessness, confidence, and inexperience with social etiquette was _charming, _those same traits on Inuzuka Kiba were just irritating. The boy was foolhardy, stubborn, and arrogant, and the fact that his own pet was better behaved than him spoke _volumes_.

Still, Inuzuka's unpleasant disposition wasn't the only reason for Shino's disdain. If he were being completely honest with himself, which he tried to be, those were just excuses—justifications. Shino could admit that he wouldn't have abhorred the boy so strongly if _Naruto _hadn't gone and fell in love with him.

Just the thought of the person he loved, of _Naruto,_ fawning over that uncivilized _mutt_ made him want to commit deplorable acts of violence.

Shino couldn't fathom what Naruto saw in him. Inuzuka was crass, he was mangy, he regularly smelled like wet fur, and most unacceptable of all, he virtually ignored Naruto's existence. That alone made him filth in Shino's eyes. Naruto was all the _best_ things in the world, and the fact that Inuzuka was too unintelligent to realize it made him undeserving of her.

Unfortunately for Shino, however, Naruto had just taken his disinterest as a _challenge_.

Shino loved his best friend to an unimaginable extent but sometimes…sometimes he wanted to _raise his voice_ at her for being so _stubborn_.

"So you can alter your eating habits?" Shino asked with no small amount of bitterness. Fortunately none of it was discernible from his tone.

Naruto look at him strangely. "Uh, _no_. Do you even know me at all? Seriously, do I look like I want to take after Sakura or something? She's so thin she could punch me in the face and I probably wouldn't even feel it. And there's no way in hell I'd ever, ever give up ramen. _Ever._"

She paused to breathe and continued, _"_I guess I'd just train harder or something. I'd burn more calories _and _I'd get stronger, so it'll be like killing two birds with one stone. Ugh, seriously, I can't believe you even _considered_ that, Shino." She looked positively evil as she added, "Just for that you owe me a bowl from _Ichiraku's._ No, make that _two_ bowls. That'll serve you right for calling me fat."

"Heavy," Shino corrected with no small amount of relief. Had she agreed to such a thing Shino would have taken her directly to the Hokage with concerns of her being impersonated by enemy-nin.

"Whatever, you're still paying," Naruto waved her hand dismissively. She set aside the volume of _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi_ she'd borrowed from Shino's mother and climbed to her feet.

"Do you think it would be improper to go outside in this?" she asked, picking at her robe.

"Yes."

"I'm going to borrow something of yours then," she said, heading for his closet.

Shino didn't bother telling her that wasn't exactly proper either.

"Nothing with our clan emblem, Naruto. You'll cause a scandal."

Naruto poked her head out of the closet and grinned at him mischievously.

Shino cursed his lack of foresight as he trailed after her. Telling Naruto not do something was the equivalent of daring her to do it. He should have remembered that.

Shino was busy pulling out a box of clothes he'd grown out of—which he'd started to hoard after Naruto had made a habit out of sleeping over—when Naruto tugged on his sleeve and said quietly, "Hey, Shino? What if…what if we both pass but we're put on different teams?"

Shino hesitated, then set the box onto the floor.

It was a logical concern, and one he'd been considering for several years. Shino had once asked his father about the likelihood of two people remaining close friends after they'd been separated into different teams, and the answer hadn't been reassuring. While it wasn't _impossible_ it wasn't entirely common, either; genin tended to stick with their respective teammates, both out of necessity because of team-oriented training, and out of common sense. The closer a unit one's team was the more proficient they were in successfully accomplishing their missions. It was as simple as that.

Shino had left that conversation with an ache in his chest that reappeared whenever he thought of them drifting apart. He acknowledged that _he _would do everything within his power to make sure such a thing never happened, but he wasn't entirely certain the same could be said of Naruto.

Naruto was…brilliant. She was vibrant, she was compassionate, and most importantly, she was _sociable. _It was often overlooked because of her tendency to talk only to Shino, but that was out of necessity, not incapability, as was Shino's case. Shino was abysmal at making friends and he always had been. Not only was there a stigma attached to his name, one that frightened most people off, but his eccentricities and reserved nature tended to make even those who didn't take issue with his allies wary.

Naruto, on the other hand, was _normal_. She liked normal things, she had normal interests and habits (by shinobi standards, at any rate), and she was perfectly capable of drawing people into conversations and keeping them engaged. The only strike against her was the fact that she was essentially the village pariah, but that could be changed with time. Her potential teammates might be foolish enough to discriminate against her for her own personal stigma, but once they realized how capable, friendly, and frankly _wonderful _she was, Shino was sure that wouldn't remain an issue for long.

Shino _needed _Naruto but Naruto didn't _need _Shino, and that was something he'd been aware of for a long time.

"Don't think about it," he eventually said, ignoring the pang in his chest. "Concentrate only on passing. We'll worry about the rest of it only when it's prudent to do so."

"Yeah," Naruto said, subdued. She sighed heavily, shook her head, and said more firmly, "Yeah. You're right. Nothing we can do about it now so there's no use worrying about it, right? Right!"

She turned to Shino and accused, "I know what you're doing, by the way! You're trying to stall so that by the time we get to _Ichiraku's_ it'll be closed, aren't you? Well that's not gonna work, even if I gotta drag you out of here naked!" She clapped her hands, "Chop chop! You're wasting daylight and I'm _starved_!"

Shino let her boss him around with a relieved smile.

Things would turn out alright. Even if Naruto didn't pass the exam or they were put onto separate teams, things would be alright.

He'd make sure of it.

* * *

Shino had never considered that the genin exam would pose a problem for him, but even he was surprised by how easy it was. The written exam was straight-forward enough that even Naruto had breezed through it, and academia had never been her strong suit. The practical portion of the exam was even easier—a one-on-one taijutsu spar, a test to assess their accuracy throwing kunai and shuriken, and a demonstration of their proficiency with recalling and interchanging hand seals and katas.

The ninjutsu test was something else entirely. Shino didn't have a problem with it—he'd been capable of performing above-adequate _henge_, _kawarimi_, and creating the Academy-standard _bunshin_ for a year. It was Naruto who he was worried about. The first two he knew wouldn't be a problem for her, but the _bunshin_…

He sighed inwardly and resumed his intense study of the door.

Uchiha Sasuke had entered the room six minutes ago and Naruto should have come in directly after him. That she still wasn't there made his stomach clench with anxiety. He didn't want to consider that she might have failed, but he also couldn't dismiss the possibility. There was no other logical reason why her demonstration would run longer than everyone else's. The final exam shouldn't have exceeded two minutes, yet she was already pushing seven.

Shino knew what he would do if she failed. Returning to the Academy for the next eight months would be inconvenient, but Shino had already made his decision in regards to that. It was problematic enough that they might not be placed onto the same team, but to become genin at different stages, too? The probability of them drifting apart became significantly higher under both circumstances and Shino couldn't risk that.

He couldn't risk Naruto.

Neither his parents nor his clan would be pleased with his decision but in the end the choice was his to make. It helped that his training wouldn't come to a stall even if he didn't become a genin since the majority of what he learned were clan techniques anyway.

Shino was pulled from his thoughts by the rattle of the doorknob. He held his breath and clenched his fingers over the cool metal of his hitai-ate as the knob twisted and the door was pushed open, only to deflate when the person who stepped through was decidedly not Naruto.

Iruka-sensei immediately sought out his gaze and, with a sad smile, shook his head.

_She hadn't passed. _

Shino closed his eyes and tried not to feel disappointed.

* * *

_Don't you dare ask to go back to the Academy. I mean it, Shino! If you aren't at the meeting tomorrow I swear I won't ever forgive you! - Naruto_

Shino read the crumpled slip of paper possibly for the hundredth time before returning it to his pocket. After several minutes of mulling over its contents he withdrew it and read it again, as if willing it to be more elaborate. To Shino's disgruntlement, no matter how many times he re-read it the twenty-nine letter message remained the same.

Shino had woken up early that morning intending to visit the Academy and submit his request to be re-admitted for another term. He probably wouldn't have noticed the message had it not been taped to the bridge of his sunglasses, leaving Shino to wonder how Naruto had managed to sneak into his rooms without him, or anyone else for that matter, noticing.

Shino turned his thoughts away from that admittedly interesting line of thought and focused on the more important matter at hand.

For all intents and purposes, the message seemed to be a genuine attempt at selflessness on Naruto's part; she was exactly the type of person who would do something like that. Knowing that, Shino would have dismissed it—_should _have done—but there was something…_strange_ about the wording, something that tugged on his perceptiveness and drew himself to the note time and time again. It gave Shino the impression that Naruto would _be_ there, which was unlikely considering she failed the exam, and yet.

And yet.

In the end, the only reason Shino hadn't proceeded with his plan was because it was Naruto, and Naruto was quite possibly the most unpredictable person on the continent. Shino was certain that if anyone could find a way to become a genin after failing the primary examination, it would be her.

With that thought in mind, Shino pushed open the door to the designated room and stepped through. His eyes scanned over the heads of those already gathered, seeking out his best friend's signature blond hair, and he frowned when he couldn't pinpoint it.

And then he heard her voice.

"Oi, do you not _see _the hitai-ate on my forehead? Jeez, Shikamaru, I knew you were lazy but I didn't think it was so bad you couldn't even be bothered to look four inches higher!"

Nara retorted something dryly and stepped away and _ah, _Shino thought, _there she is_. At once all the the tension he'd been carrying fell away like a discarded cloak, and for the first time in what seemed like days, Shino felt like he could _breathe _properly again.

As if sensing him, Naruto's gaze swiveled in his direction, and Shino felt his reclaimed breath seize in his throat at the look in her eyes when she found him.

Shino had not even realized he'd moved until his arms were encircling Naruto's shoulders and he was pushing her roughly against him. He couldn't bring himself to care that such a public display of affection, especially for one such as he, exceeded past the line of indecency. The sheer _relief _that swept through him upon discovering that Naruto had passed, that she was _there_, overwhelmed all thoughts of propriety.

Truly, the girl would be the destruction of him.

"Why must you persist in causing me undue stress?" Shino bit out quietly. "If your goal is to make me prematurely grey, then rest assured you're succeeding."

Naruto's startled laugh was bright even muffled as it were against the fabric of his coat. "Sorry, Shino."

At least she had the decency to sound sheepish, if not entirely apologetic.

"You're incorrigible," he said, aggrieved. "What happened, Naruto?"

"I'll tell you the moment you let go of me," she said.

Shino weighed his options before deciding, "In a minute, then."

Her laugh rang clearly as she burrowed further into him, head angled downward so the top of her head was nestled beneath his chin. She fit comfortably in his arms—_perfectly_, he corrected, like a well-used sword slotting perfectly into its sheath.

Shino inhaled deeply, almost desperately, and was overcome by the smell of wind and sweat and a scent he could never hope to name but was so distinctly her, ingrained in his memory like an imprint and as familiar as the lines on his own palm.

Not for the first time, Shino found himself wondering how anyone could possibly love someone this much.

"I think people are staring," Naruto murmured, drawing him out of his reverie.

Shino noted that she didn't sound particularly bothered by it.

"I'm aware." If Naruto didn't deem it important enough to worry about then Shino wouldn't, either.

"They're probably jumping to conclusions," she pointed out, adding, "the ones whose brains haven't fizzled out from the sight of you actually hugging someone, anyway."

With a small quirk of his lips, Shino hummed in agreement.

A pause, and then, "I think one of your insects just crawled into my shirt."

"You smell pleasant," he reasoned, careful not to let a trace of the envy he felt leak into his tone. It was an humiliating prospect, being jealous of one's own allies.

"Oh. Well, that's alright then, I guess."

Shino only hugged her tighter, feeling the overwhelming affection he had for the girl deep in his bones.

* * *

The trees rustled above him, wayward leaves swept away in curious patterns by a warm breeze. The area of training ground eleven was awash in a coating of light, verdure tipped with gold and fauna gleaming. Shino watched as patches of crimson and golden light flickered over the polished metal of his hitai-ate, a pale mimicry of the vibrancy of the late evening sky. Were it any other time Shino could have lost himself there, willingly stolen by the humming of insects and their gentle sounds of life.

Shino's current mental state disallowed the luxury of such relaxation. He might have appeared distracted to his current companions, but the illusion he crafted was as subtle and potent as any genjutsu he was capable of. Despite appearances, Shino's attention was firmly planted on the eldest of their group, the person he'd have to defer to for the remainder of his time as a genin. The woman's name was Yuuhi Kurenai and she was the jounin in charge of what would be Shino's new cell. The two of them, along with Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba (Shino had barely contained a curse at the discovery) would make up Team Eight, assuming they passed the secondary test his father had warned him about.

Shino's thoughts traveled back to earlier that day, before the team configurations had been announced.

Naruto, as was characteristic for her, had eagerly explained in _excruciating_ detail the events that had led to her impromptu advancement without any regard for Shino's personal feelings on the matter. He remembered sitting there, dumbfounded, as she regaled him with tales of her heroics while gesticulating wildly and all but vibrating with poorly suppressed glee.

Unwilling to shatter her excitement he'd held his tongue, deigning to nod and feign interest instead of chastising her for her recklessness like he had desperately wanted to. The thought of her fighting against a chuunin, even a low-level one, had turned his veins to ice.

Shino had been incapable of shutting out the images that had come to mind at the thought of what might have happened to her because she'd been too stubborn to retreat. Terrifying scenarios had played out in his mind as vividly as any memory, and by the time she'd finished her tale, beaming at him with the pride she'd earned but Shino was too alarmed to reciprocate, he had felt too sick to talk, belated fear like nausea rising in his gut.

That Naruto could get into such trouble before she'd even become a genin was dismaying. He shuddered to think of the danger she'd find, unwillingly or otherwise, when she advanced. Shino barely had time to think about the measurements he'd have to take to ensure her safety when Iruka-sensei entered the room and the team formations were announced.

He wasn't on her team.

They'd been separated.

Before Shino had been able to formulate any sort of verbal response, Kurenai-sensei had arrived and shepherded the fledgling Team Eight out of the room. He'd caught Naruto's eyes just before he left, dull blue and belying the smile on her face, and he'd had to turn away before he resorted to something rash, like killing Inuzuka Kiba so they'd have a place for her on their team.

It was an illogical, and chilling, thought, but since meeting Naruto such instances were occurring more often.

Shino's only consolation was that Naruto herself was strong. While Haruno Sakura was a questionably adept shinobi, the Uchiha would, at least, ensure that Naruto remained alive, if only for the sake of his reputation and pride. Their jounin sensei, Hatake Kakashi, was an unknown variable but Shino would remedy that soon. And if the man proved to be insufficient…well, Shino was quite adept at administering untraceable poisons.

No one would suspect a fresh genin without any relation to the man.

Absently, Shino wondered when he had become such a morbid person.

"And you, Shino-kun?" Kurenai-sensei's voice filtered through his troubled thoughts.

Shino, who'd only been paying partial attention to his prospective teammate's introductions, said in a monotone, "I am Aburame Shino. I like my allies and training." Who he liked was none of their concern. "My hobby is usually a variation of the two, as well as discovering new species of insects and contributing to my clan's research." Being in the company of Naruto—talking to her, training with her, being _himself_ around her—came to mind, but he gave no indication of it. It was no one's business but his. "I dislike animals that eat insects and people who kill them needlessly. I also dislike people who are arrogant, illogical, ignorant, and cruel, among other things," he quickly flicked a glance at the Inuzuka, who spluttered indignantly. "My dream is to find a way to extend the lifespan of my allies, become a capable jounin like my parents, and something else I have no intention of disclosing." He uttered the last part only to incite the irritation of Inuzuka, and smirked to himself when the other boy reacted as expected.

Kurenai-sensei's eyebrows quirked upwards at his last remark, but she thankfully didn't comment on it. "I see. Admirable goals, Shino-kun. Your parents are more than capable jounin, and with hard work and perseverance I don't see why you can't be, as well." Shino nodded in agreement and she continued, "Now that we know each other a little better we should discuss what tomorrow's test will entail. First…"

Shino looked up and watched as the orange-tinted clouds floated listlessly beneath a darkening sky. The kikaichuu within his body were buzzing contentedly, attuned to his calming mood. He kept half an ear on his sensei's explanation while he continued his study, seeing familiar figures and objects in abstract designs. He thought one such cloud looked like a bowl of ramen, twin chopsticks poking from the rim, and hid a smile.

_Naruto will be fine_, Shino thought with renewed confidence. For all his overprotectiveness he knew she would be. Naruto was strong, and capable, and clever, and she _shone _in the face of adversity. She reminded him of the clouds he was so keenly watching: constantly shifting and fluctuating, but always the same in essence and _always_ moving forward; present regardless the state of things and forever ready to surpass the moon and overcome the sun; luminous and sanguine and unflappable; so very larger than life.

_We'll both be fine, _he amended.

Even if they weren't on the same team, they would manage, and they would succeed.

Shino believed that with more certainty than the setting of the sun.

* * *

_**to be continued.**_

* * *

**[OMAKE]**

Shino could honestly say that he had never been more terrified in all his eight years of life.

Things had been going well. He and Naruto had been training in taijutsu—not the Academy standard one, which was inadequate at best, but an outdated variation of his clan's current style which his parents had granted him permission to share with her—_and things had been fine_.

That was, up until Shino had kicked her shoulder in and a sickening popping sound had resounded through training ground three.

He had frozen in horror when Naruto had fallen to her knees in shock, her trembling fingers hovering over a visibly dislocated shoulder. It had taken until the first tear had fallen before his brain had resumed proper functioning, and he'd hastily gripped her uninjured arm and lead her to his compound, which was _mercifully_ close by.

And now here they were, sat before his mother while she examined the injury and Naruto tried her best not to cry.

This wasn't how Shino had wanted them to meet.

He forced the thought from his mind and watched, avidly, as his mother carefully cut through the material of Naruto's shirt with a kunai. He was too anxious to be embarrassed when the garment was torn away and Naruto was left clad in a small, strapless undershirt which put the extent of the damage on display.

Shino felt sick just looking at it.

"Uzumaki-san, I'm now going to push your dislocated shoulder back into place. It will hurt," Noriko warned, staring her straight in the eye, "but once it is reset the pain will decrease considerably." She gave Naruto a thoughtful look and added, "I have a method of numbing the area more thoroughly than most prescribed numbing agents, however, in doing so I will need to relocate several of my kikaichuu to the injured area. Do you consent?"

"Yeah," Naruto croaked.

Shino didn't think she understood half of what his mother had said and would have probably consented to anything as long as the word "numbing" was uttered, but he kept the thought to himself.

"You're handling this with more maturity than most girls your age would," Noriko commented in approval. "Now, I'm going to count to five and push. Bite this," she handed her the remnants of her destroyed shirt and Naruto dutifully set it between her teeth.

Shino moved forward and held out his hand, and with a look of relieved gratitude, Naruto took it.

"One…two.."

Shino's held his breath in apprehension.

"Three…four…"

The silence in the room was shattered as another sickening _pop _resounded, quickly followed by a gut-wrenching scream. The bones in Shino's hands felt like they were being ground to dust but he didn't allow himself the luxury of even wincing. He deserved a lot more than a crushed hand for causing Naruto to scream like _that_.

As Naruto slumped forward and panted, his mother's kikaichuu immediately swarmed to the area and began to glow. Shino watched as some of the furious bruising began to ebb, fading from a dark array of purples and blues to softer hues of yellow and green.

Noriko brushed her fingers against Naruto's sweaty brow, and the action made Shino feel warm, though he couldn't quite figure out why.

Naruto looked up in weary surprise, but it was short-lived as Noriko placed her hand above the injury and gently pressed.

"How does it feel, Uzumaki-san?"

"Better," Naruto admitted, to Shino's immense relief. "It feels more like a bruised muscle and less like I was stabbed with a hot poker a dozen times."

And just like that the cloying guilt returned.

Noriko huffed in amusement at the analogy and withdrew her hand. "I'll administer a proper pain-relief antidote later, Uzumaki-san. Aside from severe tenderness it should be fine, though I'd suggest you visit the hospital if your condition worsens. For the next week you will need to refrain from…"

Shino studied Naruto's face as his mother instructed her on everything she'd need to do, and not do, to recuperate properly. There were still remnants of pain there, etched into the lines of her face, but they were mere shadows compared to the agony that been there only minutes ago.

"I got it," Naruto said with a careful nod. "Thanks for healing me, Aburame-san."

"It was no trouble, Uzumaki-san," Noriko intoned. She recalled her allies, and while she appeared to be apathetic, Shino knew that she was shrewdly observing Naruto for her reaction.

Naruto didn't disappoint. She stared in open fascination as the glow surrounding the kikaichuu dissipated and they rose into the air and returned to their host.

Shino caught the gleam of satisfaction in his mother's eyes and felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. It was a rare thing, indeed, to find someone who responded so well to their allies. Even those who weren't outright fearful or disgusted tended to react poorly when forced to be in close proximity with them, never mind in direct contact. Non-clan members who showed the level of enthrallment Naruto was currently showing were _rare_.

And Shino had found her first.

Noriko shot Shino an approving look and he felt it sink though his skin, straight to his very heart. He turned his head to hide his smile, which widened when he heard the soft huff of his mother's laughter.

"I'll retrieve the medicine for you now, Uzumaki-san. If you're feeling up to it, perhaps you should consider staying for dinner."

Shino looked up just in time to see Naruto's face slacken in shock.

"Me?" she asked incredulously.

Noriko's eyebrows rose over her glasses. "Yes. My husband and I had been intending to invite you for some time now, but between our missions it has been difficult deciding upon a date when we'd both be available. Unfortunately he is not currently in the village, but that is of no consequence. He can make your acquaintance the next time you visit."

"The next…" she trailed off, then ducked her head when words seemed to have deserted her.

Shino clenched his free hand into a fist, infuriated that such a simple thing like a dinner invitation could cause such a visceral reaction from her. With renewed determination he vowed that he _would_ find out why Naruto was treated as she was. Their efforts had been unproductive so far, but Shino was certain that _something_, or perhaps _someone_, would eventually have to give. He just needed to find a better method, or perhaps a different angle, of approaching the mystery that surrounded her.

"Are you amenable?"

"I…y-yes," Naruto stuttered. "If it's not too much trouble."

"It's not," Noriko said, scrutinizing her with narrowed eyes.

Shino could almost feel the displeasure radiating from his mother in waves.

"Shino-kun, perhaps you should bring Naruto to your room to rest?" She waited for him to nod in agreement before continuing, "if you'll excuse me, then. I'll come by with the medicine shortly, Uzumaki-san."

His mother gave Naruto a short bow, which Naruto was too busy studying the floor to see, and quickly left.

The silence that lingered in her wake was anything but comfortable.

"How do you feel?" Shino asked, after a while.

"Like someone kicked my shoulder out of its socket," Naruto responded dryly.

Shino flinched and said stiffly, "I apologize for that, Naruto. Harming you so severely was not my intention."

Naruto looked up, and whatever she saw in his expression was enough to ease some of the tightness from her face.

"It's alright. Accidents happen, I guess. Besides, that kick _was_ kind of badass. I should have been able to block it." Her expression morphed into something fierce. "And next time I _will_."

Shino allowed some of the tension to trickle from his shoulders.

"Your mom seems real nice," Naruto said after another long pause.

There were a myriad of emotions lurking within her tone, but Shino was too emotionally exhausted to even consider unraveling them.

"She is," he agreed. "It's unfortunate that the two of you had to meet under such stressful circumstances. Hopefully the meeting between you and my father won't be as…intense."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," he leveled her with a flat look. "In any event, you managed to impress my mother quite a bit, which is rare. She's not one to get impressed easily."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Despite being in unimaginable pain you were very well-composed, and that is a trait those in my clan highly respect," Shino told her, adjusting his glasses. "Additionally, you did not show aversion to my mother's allies, which she found both endearing and admirable. She is quite taken with you," Shino said with no small amount of pride.

He would have been displeased if Naruto and his mother had not gotten along.

Naruto gaped at him even as an embarrassed flush rose to her face. "What? How did you get _any _of that from her? No offense or anything, but…she looked so…_blank_. I couldn't read her at all!"

Shino bit back an amused snort. His mother had been the most emotional he'd seen her in weeks.

"You'll find it easier to read her once you become better acquainted with her," he said. When Naruto shot him a disbelieving look he asked, "What am I feeling right now?"

"Amusement," Naruto said immediately, then with a scowl, "you're laughing at me, you jerk."

Shino's lips twitched. "And yet my facial muscles have barely moved throughout our entire conversation."

It took a moment for Naruto to get it. "Oh! I see! Hey, is your dad the same way?"

"Compared to my father, my mother is quite animated," Shino corrected, taking delight in the way Naruto's shoulders slumped and she mumbled something along the lines of '_you people need to come with a handbook.' _

Feeling lighter than he'd had in over an hour, Shino stood from his seat and pulled Naruto up with him. "Come. I'll show you to my room. You need to rest and it would be impolite to have my mother searching the entire compound for us."

"Alright," she said, and followed him.

Neither of them commented on the hands that remained entwined, but when Shino carefully squeezed Naruto's fingers, Naruto, just as gently, squeezed back.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, and drop a comment on your way out!**


	3. Foreboding

**Author's Note: **Major thanks to everyone who has dropped a comment and added the story to their favorites. Please enjoy chapter three.

* * *

**PHASE III: FOREBODING **

"_The world is a comedy to those who think; _

_a tragedy to those who feel."_

- Horace Walpole

* * *

"I think that's enough for today. Great job, Team 8. Tomorrow we'll meet at Training Ground Nine, seven a.m. sharp. Oh, and Hinata? A word before you go, please?"

Shino watched impassively as one-fourth of their cell struggled to her feet, limbs visibly shaking from the strain of undergoing three hours of intensive chakra control and endurance training. Hinata nearly tipped over but Inuzuka caught her just in time, one hand latched onto her shirt to prevent her from falling.

It would have been an inspiring sight if Inuzuka himself didn't look ready to collapse. Shino restrained the urge to think something snide towards the arrogant mongrel whose bark was, as always, bigger than his bite, but Shino, while many things, was not a hypocrite. Although he wasn't as worse-for-wear as his teammates he wasn't immune to the fatigue that hours spent sparring and sprinting on water wrought. If it weren't for his considerable chakra reserves and stamina—developed out of the necessity of being sparring partners with a girl who had both in spades—Shino would have likely passed out hours ago.

With a weary sigh he hauled himself to his feet and, with a small flare of chakra, recalled his allies to him. He ignored Inuzuka's disgusted sneer as his kikaichuu traveled up his hands, into his coat, and burrowed into the pores of his skin. Their presence hadn't been needed for the day's training but Shino had long ago made a habit of sending his allies to scout whatever area he happened to be in, even if it was his own territory.

If nothing else, it served as practice for the both of them.

A quick glance at the position of the sun was all Shino needed to know that he was late for dinner. Naruto wouldn't be pleased. The thought of her waiting impatiently for him at her ramen stand, fingers thrumming furiously against the table, made the corners of his lips twitch in amusement. He bid goodbye to his teammates—which they returned with varying levels of spirit—and left the training ground.

* * *

"You're late," was the first thing Naruto said to Shino when he slid into the stool beside hers.

He didn't get a chance to apologize before she turned away and waved the owner of _Ichiraku's Ramen _toward them.

"Old man Teuchi," Naruto hollered, "five bowls of miso ramen with a pork base, stat!" She held both hands to her stomach and groaned, "Please hurry, I'm so hungry I might _die_."

The owner snorted in amusement and promptly tossed an obscene amount of noodles into boiling water.

"And you, Aburame-kun?" the owner's daughter asked.

"Two bowls of pork ramen, please. Thank you, Ayame-san."

"Always so formal, Shino-kun. You'd think Naruto-chan's rudeness would have rubbed off on you by now," she teased, ignoring Naruto's protests that _she was not rude_ and _what a horrible thing to say, Ayame-neechan._

Neither Shino nor Ayame called her out on the lie.

With an amused chuckle, Ayame ruffled Naruto's hair and relayed Shino's order to her father, who dipped his head in acknowledgement and resumed his preparations.

A sharp poke to Shino's side drew his attention away from the pair and he glanced sideways at his friend, who was glaring at him.

"Oi, why were you so late, anyway?"

"Training ran longer than anticipated," Shino said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. He paused when Naruto suddenly brought her hand up and raked her fingers through his hair. Droplets of water and remnants of leaves fell away when she withdrew her hand.

"Your hair's soaked," she commented, scrutinizing one of the leaves she captured. It had orange veins.

Shino ducked his head to hide a rising blush and cleared his throat. "We spent the better part of the day sparring on the lake. Kurenai-sensei wants us to concentrate on increasing our chakra control and reserves until both meet her satisfaction."

Naruto discarded the leaf and scowled. "So not fair. You have no idea how much I'm envying you right now."

Frowning, he pointed out, "I've already taught you how to do both."

Not that Shino had been given much of a choice once he'd revealed what Kurenai was teaching them. Naruto had been quick to demand that he teach her, too.

Upon discovering that Hatake was as useless as Shino feared he would be, Shino had taken to coaching her on everything he learned during his own training. It was a time-consuming endeavor but, for the most part, it benefited both parties; Shino was given the opportunity to practice and utilize whatever he learned, and Naruto could _actually_ learn something of value.

Not that he wouldn't have shared his knowledge with her regardless.

He could deny Naruto nothing.

"And don't think I'm not grateful," she said seriously, "because without you I wouldn't have learned a damned thing. But it would be nice to have a teacher who actually did his job. I mean, he's supposed to be some hotshot special jounin or something, right? Yet all the bastard does is give us team bonding exercises and make us do stupid D-rank missions while he reads that perverted book of his."

She let out a small noise of disgruntlement and dropped her head onto the table. "And even _that's_ pointless. Sakura's always too busy fawning over Sasuke to actually train, Sasuke has a stick lodged so far up his ass that it's a miracle he can even walk, let alone train with the rest of us _clan-less plebeians_," she growled the words, "and Kakashi-sensei is absolutely useless when he actually decides to be there!"

Naruto gazed at Shino morosely and admitted, "I didn't think it was going to be easy, but I never expected _this_, Shino. It feels like…like we're pieces of different puzzles that someone is trying to force together because they're too stupid to realize that _we're never going to fit_."

The words hung heavily in the air even as the two descended into an uncomfortable silence.

Shino was the first to look away. He wished he could draw on the words that came so easily under most circumstances, but they were a scrambled mess inside his head. He didn't know what to say to make the situation better, or even if it _could_ be made better. He was out of his depth, and that was probably why the words refused to come.

After two weeks of Naruto complaining about the dynamic of her makeshift team, Shino had gone to his father for advice. Voice tinged with regret, Shibi had confirmed that supervisors of genin squads had the right to train their teams in whatever capacity they chose. It was a recompense, of a sort, for services rendered. Unlike those who failed the exams and were sent to the Academy reserves, genin under experienced jounin tended to become superior shinobi at an accelerated rate. The vast majority of Konoha's elite jounin and ANBU were the products of privileged cells overseen by jounin.

"It's an unspoken precedent; the jounin agrees to turn their genin into formidable shinobi on the condition that their methods remain unanimous," Shibi had explained.

The only consolation was that genin were allowed to submit transfer requests after a four-month provisional period. Shino saw the logic behind the time frame even if it was a detriment to Naruto's current situation.

"You can make a request for a transfer in another month if you still deem it necessary," Shino said eventually, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder and squeezing. "Until that time…simply continue to perform to the best of your ability. That is all you can do."

As far as motivational speeches went it was hardly the most eloquent, or inspiring, but Shino considered it a success when he saw the corners of her lips turn up in a reluctant smile.

"_Oi_. I'm trying to mope here. Quit trying to make me feel better, would you?"

Shino adjusted his glasses. "My apologies," he intoned.

Naruto snorted and Shino inwardly sighed with relief.

Despondence was not a good look on her.

"Here you go," Ichiraku Teuchi slid two steaming bowls in front of them, followed by napkins and disposable chopsticks. "Enjoy!"

It was like watching the sun break through the clouds.

Shino watched as Naruto's face lit up, all traces of her earlier frustrating gone with the arrival of food. The girl snapped her chopsticks apart, shouted "Thanks for the meal," and dug in with little regard to public etiquette or the continued survival of her taste buds.

Shino pulled his own bowl toward him and thought of how much closer he'd be to one particular dream of his if he could make Naruto feel for him even half of what she felt for ramen. Honestly, even a quarter would be a blessing.

He studiously ignored the indecent sounds coming from his left and started to eat, mindful of the heat. Ichiraku's ramen really was quite good, though Shino supposed the pleasant atmosphere, and company, played a part in it.

It also helped that the owner and his daughter didn't treat Shino like a health code violation waiting to happen.

"Next!" gasped Naruto, pushing the empty bowl away. It was instantly replaced by another and Naruto attacked it without sparing the man who'd brought it a glance.

Ichiraku shook his head in exasperation, a seasoned veteran in the face of Naruto's frightening eating habits, and ambled away.

Shino looked down at his barely-touched ramen and wondered, not for the first time, how he had managed to fall in love with someone so absurd.

* * *

"You're making your allies anxious, Shino," his mother rebuked from across the dinner table.

"It's imperative that you compose yourself," Shibi agreed.

Shino glanced at his parents, nodded once, and continued poking the tempura on his plate. _Easier said than done_, he thought, and lifted the breaded piece of fish to his lips. He had always been partial to the way the cooks prepared their meals but now…it tasted like dirt in his mouth, flavors lost to the turmoil of his thoughts.

His parents gave indiscernible sighs of frustration, which he ignored. Shino knew he was behaving in a manner that was entirely unbecoming of someone of his status, but he found he couldn't bring himself to care. He _tried_ to calm down, for his allies' emotional well-being if nothing else, but no amount of meditation could soothe his nerves or quell his unease. Truthfully, it just made things worse.

Shino chewed and swallowed by rote. His body might have been within the Aburame main house but his mind was elsewhere, far past the compound's vast grounds and the towering gates of Konoha, to the small nation of Wave that lay on the outskirts of the Country of Fire.

Despite his research there was little current information available on the isolated country in either the shinobi or public archives. Wave Country was so small it didn't contain even a minor hidden village and relied on the assistance of other shinobi villages to survive. It was renowned for its rivers, mangroves, and exotic wildlife, and due to its prevalent shipping and trade industry was unusually prosperous for its location and size.

Useless facts, and none of it could explain why Naruto, whose team had set out for Wave three weeks ago, had not returned.

When Naruto's _kage bunshin _had hunted Shino down nearly a month ago and explained that her team had been cleared for a C-rank mission, a simple escort job to Wave Country that shouldn't run longer for a week, he'd been only marginally concerned. Shino had been on a few C-rank missions himself and knew that they were relatively easy, though time consuming. Bandits tended to be the extent of the danger for most genin-appointed C-rank assignments. And while mishaps were a fact of shinobi life, he trusted that Naruto, and possibly the Uchiha, was capable enough to secure their own survival. Their sensei, too, was a formidable ninja, even if he was useless in every other aspect of his life.

After Naruto's delay had reached the two week mark he'd gone straight to the Sandaime Hokage and…_requested_ a status update. Shino was sure that the only reason he'd been allowed to leave the Hokage's office unscathed was because the man was fond of Naruto to an astonishing degree and had always seemed supportive of their friendship. It was one of the many mysteries that surrounded his best friend.

The Hokage had assured Shino that Team 7's mission was a relatively simple one and had even been kind enough to disclose that Hatake Kakashi had yet to call for reinforcements. That information had done little to reassure Shino, which the Hokage had probably known, but Shino had decided against pushing his luck and had made a tactful retreat.

That had been a week ago.

One exhausting, hellish week where he'd been too distracted to do anything but train, and only because physical exertion was an effective way to stop thinking about things that were better left ignored.

Because of his increasing frustration his allies were agitated, which disrupted their breeding cycles and made them slow to react. He was also straining the tempers of his teammates (save Hinata, who likely didn't have one), who Shino knew was bearing the brunt of his ire. Even his parents were upset by his behavior, and rightly so, though they refrained from confronting him. It was likely because they, as Aburame, could see through his veneer of anger and straight to the core of things: Shino was _frightened. _

It was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. Like nothing he'd ever imagined. His fear was a coiling _monster _inside that consumed his self-restraint and mental fortitude. It grew stronger and wilder with each passing day and Shino found it hard to sleep, to think, to train, to focus, to listen to anything other than the voice in his head that whispered horrifying what-ifs.

It usurped his own senses, even, and made him see, hear, and smell things that weren't there. More than once he'd been convinced that Naruto was within the village, only to start chase and discover that it was only a civilian wearing a yellow hat, or an orange sundress, or the lemon-scented lotion that she occasionally liked to use. Every laugh he heard turned his head even if it didn't resemble Naruto's in the slightest.

Somewhere along the line Shino had begun to associate Naruto with laughter and the connotation was wreaking havoc on his psyche.

The term _going crazy with worry_ was starting to make more sense than it should.

Shino gave up on finishing his meal and pushed his plate away. "If you'll excuse me," he muttered, standing. He ignored the looks of concern his parents shot him and left the room.

He was more than ready to put the day behind him and go to bed.

_Tomorrow, _Shino thought as he silently made his way through the vacant halls of the compound. _She'll be back tomorrow. _

There was no room for alternatives in his mind.

* * *

"_-ino," she whispered against him, breath warm and distinctly sweet. "Shino."_

_Shino couldn't see her. It was worrying but he found he didn't want to question it. What did it matter if he was blind? If he could still hear her, still feel her, still taste her and smell her and—_

"_Wake up, Shino," she told him, and Shino immediately dismissed the command. Nothing good came from waking up. It only lead to things that Shino wished he could forget. No, he preferred to stay right where he was, surrounded by the smell and sound and feel of Naruto, even if it was only a pale imitation of the original, brought to life by his vivid imagination. _

"_Wake up, Shino," she repeated. _

"_No," Shino muttered, content to remain. _

_He heard a soft inhalation, followed by a muttered curse, and then: "Oi, get your ass up, you lazy bastard! It's already morning! What, are you going to spend the whole day sleeping?" _

_Leave it to Naruto to be crude even within the realm of another's dreams. _

"_Yes," Shino said simply and relaxed in his—bed, was it? It wasn't of importance. He closed his eyes, though the gesture was pointless, and basked in the presence of his friend. _

_It took Shino a while to realize that he—no, _the world—_was trembling. He spread his awareness. An earthquake, perhaps? They weren't common in Konohagakure, and certainly not to the point that their potency caused physical pain, but…_

_The though tapered off and Shino sat up. Pain. Shino had never experienced pain in a dreamscape before. He hadn't thought it possible. With that alarming thought Shino's sightless eyes flew open—_

—and saw the sky concentrated within a pair of blue eyes.

"Finally! Geez, I never knew you were such a heavy sleeper. That'll be the death of you, you know!" Naruto, or a perfect replication of her, said brightly. Her lips were stretched in a painfully familiar smile. "Up and at 'em, lazy bones. Your parents wanted us down for breakfast twenty minutes ago."

Shino didn't even think. He lifted his hands and formed the ram seal, concentrated his chakra, and barked, "Kai!"

The figure looked at him like he'd gone insane, but that was of little consequence. It was only important that it was still _there_. His chakra release hadn't expelled it, as it would have done with a clone, or shattered it, as was the way of a broken genjustsu. Which meant that he was either dreaming, hallucinating, under a jounin-level genjutsu, or _it was real_.

Shino felt inclined to believe the latter option.

"Naruto?" he asked hoarsely.

The girl scowled at him. "Did you just _kai _me? What if I'd been a clone with a message! Man, you really are useless in the mornings!" she paused and added in afterthought, "Also, has anyone told you that when you release a chakra pulse it kind of feels like being swarmed by a bunch of bugs? Unpleasant, dude. Um, no offense."

Shino stared at her, synapses firing away in his head.

Naruto was there.

Naruto was _there_.

_Naruto _was_ alive_.

Between one breath and the next Shino was on her, pulling her against him with the strength of a man determined to escape a merciless nightmare. He ignored her protests of being unable to breathe and took in everything, from the dampness of her hair to the clean scent of her clothes to the lingering chill on her skin.

Shino placed his ear against her chest and listened for the sound of her heartbeat, which was always so much quicker than his own. He wasn't disappointed. With the rhythm of her existence beating against his ear, Shino allowed the last remnants of his fear and doubt to trickle away like poison leaving a wound, and he compared the relief he felt afterwards to the cleansing of a contaminated bloodstream.

"I'm glad you missed me, really I am, but could you maybe hold me a little less like you want to crush my bones?" Naruto squeaked.

Shino snorted despite himself and reluctantly loosened his grip. Naruto took the opportunity to turn in his arms and settle into a more comfortable position where her back was pressed against Shino's front and her legs ran parallel to his. Shino dropped his arms and brought them around her waist, then tucked her head beneath his chin. He felt Naruto's cool hands encircle his wrists, and after a moment of indecision, broke her gentle hold and entwined their fingers together. When Naruto didn't reject the intimate gesture he closed his eyes and allowed himself to finally _breathe_.

"What happened, Naruto?" he asked after a while, reluctant to disrupt the moment but understanding the necessity of it. Shino _needed _to know happened, if only for the sake of his peace of mind.

Naruto went still against him.

There was silence, and it stretched on for what felt like ages. The minute Shino resigned himself to not being told, it was shattered by foreboding words that sent bolts of ice down his spine.

"It was a _disaster_," Naruto rasped.

Shino felt an overwhelming urge to retract the question just to ensure that he never, _ever_ had to hear Naruto sound like that again. He bit his tongue until he tasted blood and said nothing, though, allowing her to continue the tale and hating himself for it.

Shino _needed _to know what had happened, but…he had a feeling that Naruto needed to _tell it _just as much. So he listened to her speak, her voice like iron nails carving through wood, and kept silent and still even as his body strained to do otherwise.

_A deceitful bridge-builder. A desolate country taken over by a crime magnate. An ambush by the Demon Brothers. Their call for reinforcements being intercepted. Hatake Kakashi injured. Two encounters with an A-class missing-nin. Another with his chuunin-level apprentice with a deadly kekkei genkai. Uchiha Sasuke nearly dead. A battle against a hundred trained mercenaries. _

_Naruto paralyzed with fear. _

_Naruto being poisoned. _

_Naruto almost dying. _

_Naruto forced to kill. _

"—And then the bridge was completed so we left," Naruto finished, subdued.

Shino opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Yeah, I know," she sighed, as if she could read the tremulous thoughts from his mind. Shino wouldn't have been surprised if she could. "The mission was a success for all intents and purposes. Our client and his family didn't die, none of us were hurt too badly, we managed to save a country from some evil bastard and scare his underlings off…I even got a bridge named after me!" That last bit was said almost excitedly.

It didn't last. "But there were so many things that went wrong because we weren't ready," she continued morosely, sagging into Shino. "And so many things could have gone worse. If Sasuke hadn't stepped in I would have been killed by one of the Demon Brothers. If I didn't heal so fast I would've died from being poisoned or bleeding out. If Haku hadn't been so merciful Sasuke would have been killed. And if I didn't have…" she suddenly tensed. "N-never mind. That…that's not important right now," she said, shaking her head.

Shino frowned, but when he made to ask he was quickly interrupted.

"We were lucky, Shino. That's all. Kakashi-sensei said that the fact that we all survived those odds was proof of our skill or some bullshit like that," she snorted in disgust, "but he's just fooling himself. That, and trying to make _princess Uchiha_ feel better about himself. We sucked big time, end of story."

Shino waited until he was sure she didn't have anything else to add and then reflected on everything he'd been told. Honestly…in some ways it was so much better than what he'd imagined, yet in other ways it was so much worse.

He closed his eyes and tried to organize the thoughts that were whirring through his head. There were still echoes of fear there, fortified by Naruto's own admittance of how close she'd come to death. Then there was the keener feeling of relief because despite everything that had happened _she'd_ _survived, _and that overwhelmed everything else.

In between those dominating emotions was a myriad of others: pride, because she had succeeded; awe, because Shino wasn't sure if he would have; fury, because she should never have been put in that situation; guilt, because Shino hadn't been able to help her; and helplessness, because he knew he wouldn't always be able to.

_Not that it will stop me from trying_, he thought, and vowed to delve more heavily into his clan's breeding experiments. For years his family had been trying to develop a species of kikaichuu that could be communicated with at longer distances, and if Shino were to dedicate time spent towards his own research on increasing their life spans to that, perhaps even combine the two…

_Perhaps there's a correlation? No, that wouldn't—_

"Shino?"

Shino started. He looked down to see a pair of inquisitive blue eyes focused on him and he flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry," he said, and lifted a finger to push up glasses that he belatedly realized weren't there.

Naruto laughed at him. It was only a shade of her usual happiness but it nevertheless gave Shino hope that she would be okay.

"You're such a spaz," she said, lowering her head.

"Am not." Shino could lower himself to petty squabbling if doing so would make her smile.

"And I'm the long lost daughter of the Yondaime," she snorted.

"Stranger things have happened," Shino commented, even if the likelihood of that being true was practically nonexistent.

"Nah. I'm pretty sure that if I was the Yondaime's kid I'd be treated a helluva lot better by the villagers."

"Considering the level of stupidity that runs rampant throughout our village, I personally wouldn't bet on it."

Naruto laughed again, and Shino relaxed further.

"So," she said after minute of semi-comfortable silence. "You don't have anything to say about...you know?"

Shino sighed. It wasn't that he had nothing to say. It was that he had _too much_ to say, and most of it, he felt, was better left within the privacy of his own mind. While Naruto probably expected Shino to criticize her performance and belittle her contributions (because Naruto, though adept at hiding at it, had always been ridiculously hard on herself), that simply wasn't the case. Shino did his best to view the situation objectively and honestly, he found no fault in _her _actions. She'd done the best she could given the circumstances, and her best had been remarkable. The only other person who merited his respect was the Uchiha. Not only had he supported Naruto after they'd been ambushed _twice_, but he'd _sacrificed his life _to save hers during their battle with that pseudo hunter-nin.

_A logical decision,_ Shino thought without remorse. Naruto was worth ten of the Uchiha, after all. Still, Shino grudgingly acknowledged that he was one of perhaps three people in all of Konahagakure who felt that way, and the Uchiha was not on that list.

Uchiha had selflessly risked his life for someone who he, according to Naruto, could barely tolerate, and Shino's esteem of the boy had risen substantially at the revelation.

No, Shino held no condemnation for either of them. It was their sensei, and possibly Haruno Sakura, who Shino wanted to rage against.

Hatake Kakashi _should _have been training his team properly. Hatake Kakashi _should _have aborted the mission upon discovering their client's deceit. Hatake Kakashi _should _have made a retreat when an A-class missing-nin and another powerful anomaly entered the equation. Hatake Kakashi _should _have known that hunter-nin _always _destroyed the bodies of their targets on sight. Hatake Kakashi _should _have made another request for reinforcements upon realizing that the first had likely been intercepted. Hatake Kakashi _should _have spent their limited time frame teaching his team something _besides _mere chakra control exercises.

Hatake Kakashi _should _have done a lot of things. The fact that he hadn't, and that through his inaction and irresponsibility Naruto had almost been killed, was unforgivable.

Still, Shino held his tongue. There would be nothing to gain from expressing his fury, except perhaps momentary relief, and that would only be for Shino's benefit. Naruto would not appreciate such harsh vitriol aimed at her team so soon after having nearly lost them. It would only incite her temper and the last thing Shino wanted was to add anger to her current bout of melancholy.

With that thought in mind, Shino finally said, "Despite what you think, Naruto, your team performed…admirably."

Naruto turned to look at him disbelievingly and Shino clapped a hand over her mouth in anticipation of her protests. Whatever she'd been about to say was muffled by his palm and Shino quickly continued before she could do something in retaliation—like bite him.

"You _did_," he said forcefully, holding her gaze. "Genin cells with double your experience probably wouldn't have fared half as well. There is a reason that A-ranked missions are restricted to jounin and ANBU. Your sensei was wrong for not aborting the mission when he realized the extent of the danger," Shino couldn't resist pointing that out, "but despite your team being under qualified you successfully completed your mission without any causalities." Shino paused for a breath. "That isn't _luck_, Naruto. That's resourcefulness, inexperienced as it might have been."

Naruto stared at him. "I…I don't think I've ever heard you say so much in one breath in all the years I've known you."

Shino scowled at her in annoyance. "Rest assured that it will be the last time I make such an effort," he said, peeved that his embarrassingly heartfelt sermon had been dismissed so casually.

Naruto laughed loudly and Shino hated that she could expel his anger as easily as if she'd been swatting away a fly.

"Sorry, sorry! You know I can't help giving you shit every so often, Shino," she said winningly, "but hey, at least it keeps you on your toes!"

Shino rolled his eyes and glanced at the closest window. The curtains were still drawn but there was a sliver of yellow sunlight peeking through the opening in the middle. Shino studied the angle the light extended and the level of its glare and surmised that it was shortly past breakfast time. The lack of birdsong and the soft, almost silent pattering of feet within the house led him to believe that it was nine, perhaps ten, in the morning. After a quick scan of his internal allies he recalculated the time to ten-thirty thereabout.

It was fortunate that Kurenai-sensei had given Team 8 the day to rest because Shino wouldn't have considered making an appearance even if she hadn't. He—_they_, he corrected contentedly—could go out for breakfast without having to rush. Shino wouldn't even argue when Naruto eventually demanded they eat ramen. He probably wouldn't even argue if she made a suggestion for _grass_.

Shino was _starving_, and his stomach promptly rumbled as if to emphasize the fact.

The responding laughter was expected. "C'mon, let's get something to eat!" Naruto chirped, hauling herself off the bed. Shino took a moment to examine her outfit—an orange jacket over a cobalt, knee-length dress, and brown sandals with thick, two-inch heels—and wondered when he had stopped finding her special brand of fashion sense so strange.

_Probably around the time I stopped finding anything wrong with eating ramen for breakfast, _he thought with a rueful shake of his head.

He made his way towards his closet with a poorly concealed yawn and pulled out the first outfit he laid his hands on. Shino reached for a roll of bandages on one of the upper shelves and froze when he felt something heavy press against his back.

"Thanks, Shino," Naruto whispered solemnly, breath hot even through the material of his night shirt. Her palms were flat against his stomach, and they warmed his skin.

Shino shivered.

Naruto pulled away, likely to leave the room to give him privacy, but Shino moved before he'd made the decision to do so. His hand caught hers and she paused, then looked over at him curiously. Shino gazed at her, eyes roaming over messy blond hair and sapphire eyes and lips that were designed to laugh, and the words came pouring out before he could put a stop to them.

"Never again," Shino rasped, clutching her hand so tightly the knuckles rolled beneath her skin. "Don't ever do that to me again."

Her eyes widened. "Shino—"

"Promise," Shino demanded, even though he knew it was unfair—no, _impossible _to ask that of her. They were shinobi. Danger was in their job description. Risk was the core of their work. Endangering their lives in service to their country was something even the newest genin understood and accepted. Those who couldn't, those who _wouldn't, _had no business becoming shinobi.

Shino _knew_ that, and yet.

And yet.

"I can't promise that," Naruto said, and Shino felt his heart plummet to his stomach. "I can't promise that any more than you can," she continued steadily, her eyes dark, "but I _will _promise to get strong. So strong that you'll never have to worry about me like that again."

Shino sometimes forgot how much this ostensibly oblivious girl _saw_ until she'd say, or do, something that bespoke of how perceptive she could be. Like now. Shino wondered what else she knew about him—what findings she'd made and secrets she'd uncovered—because of Shino's arrogance and his tendency to let his guard down around her.

_More than I realize,_ he thought as she stared at him, stared _through_ him, as if his skin were made of quartz and his insides—his muscles, his bones, his lungs, his heart—were on display.

He didn't know if he was more frightened or elated by the thought

"It's a promise," she proclaimed, oblivious to fact that she was once again overturning his world and that Shino, like always, was powerless to stop her. "And I never go back on my word."

"That's…acceptable," he said hoarsely. It was all he could think of to say.

Naruto smiled like she understood that, too.

* * *

_**to be continued.**_

* * *

**[OMAKE]**

"Tree climbing! But I already know how to climb a tree!" Naruto insisted.

"Yeah, sensei! They taught us that in the Academy!" Sakura added.

Kakashi sighed. Why, oh why, couldn't he have been given genin who actually did what he told them to without arguing at every turn?

"That's not what I meant," he said. "Watch. I should have enough chakra for this." He then promptly walked up the nearest tree, one hand gripping his crutch and the other stuffed in his pocket. When he looked down, his genin were staring up at him in awe. He jumped down, pleased by their reaction.

"See? That's what I meant. All you have to do is channel some chakra into your feet and climb. Come to me when you've made it to the top of the tree, alright?"

He made to turn but was stopped by a relentless tug on his sleeve.

"Sensei, I already know how to do this!" Naruto complained.

Kakashi gave her a dubious look. "Oh?"

"Yeah! I made Shino teach me because you're always too lazy to show us anything useful! He taught me _weeks _ago!"

Kakashi could almost feel the glares of his other two genin drilling holes into his back.

"Show me," Kakashi commanded.

Naruto leveled him with a flat look and promptly walked up the nearest tree. She got to the highest point _then kept on walking_ until she was hanging upside down from the end of the branch. She dropped, flipped, and landed in the same spot she'd been before.

Kakashi felt a bead a sweat run down his brow as Sakura hissed, "_Kakashi-sensei!_"

"Well, it's about who you know and all that," he said vaguely. He beamed at his two seething students and returned his attention to Naruto, who was grinning cheekily at him.

The underhanded little brat.

"Ah…since you've got tree-walking covered I suppose I could teach you how to walk on water—"

"I can already do that, too," she interrupted him, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

Kakashi coughed when the glares suddenly became laced with killing intent.

"I see. How good are you at it?"

"Shino and I sometimes spar for hours on the pond behind his compound, and sometimes his mom comes and disrupts the flow of the water and makes it all choppy so it's like walking over currents," she said, oblivious to the way Kakashi's shoulders were slumping.

"Oh," he said.

The killing intent aimed at his back spiked up a notch.

"Well, nothing we can do about it now! You two start walking and Naruto-chan and I," he latched onto the girl's shoulders, "will do something else. Come find us when you're done. Bye-bye now!" He quickly _shunshin'd_ them away, ignoring the furious protests of Sakura and Sasuke and the startled cry of the girl in his arms.

As Kakashi fled, he cursed both Kurenai and Naruto's creepy friend for all the work he'd have to do now, because surely neither Sasuke nor Sakura would let the fact that _Naruto_ had learned something before them go. Kakashi could almost feel his days of leisure slipping between his fingers.

(Somewhere in Konoha, a miserable genin and his concerned sensei started to sneeze.)

Not for the first time, Hatake Kakashi regretted letting the Hokage bully him into taking on a genin team.

He would have been better off retiring.

* * *

**Drop a comment if you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Milestone

**Author's Note: **ETA - Omake added July 13th.

* * *

**PHASE IV: MILESTONE**

"_An intense feeling carries with it its own universe, _

_magnificent or wretched as the case may be."_

- Albert Camus

* * *

_The Forest of Death._ Shino would have felt inclined to dismiss the designation as an unsubtle attempt at intimidation on Konoha's part if it weren't for all the _screaming. _His fingers twitched when another bloodcurdling scream echoed in the distance, maybe a quarter of a mile south. After six seconds it cut off abruptly and Shino turned his head, reluctant to consider the reason why.

"Hinata-san," he pressed.

"_Byakugan!_" his teammate swiftly activated her bloodline limit_. _"T-there's a team s-seven hundred meters away but they're headed n-northwest and another team nine-hundred m-meters w-west but they're veering off to the e-east."

"My allies have made a similar report, though their reach doesn't extend quite as far as your own." Shino adjusted his glasses, and it pained him to admit that it was becoming a nervous habit, not unlike Hinata's tendency to fiddle with her hands. "However, they've reported that there's nothing particularly poisonous or carnivorous within a four-hundred meter parameter and as long as we remain unobtrusive we should be able to avoid what they've established to be a considerable mating ball five-hundred meters northwest."

Inuzuka sighed explosively. "Thank _god. _Ugh, let's move already. We've already got our scrolls, let's pick up the pace and get the hell out of here."

While Shino was loath to side with Inuzuka on anything, in this he wholeheartedly agreed.

The forest, also known as Training Ground 44, was _eerie_. There was no other way to describe it. Deadly plants and animals aside, there was just something _off_ about it that raised the hairs on the back of Shino's neck. Even with the aid of his kikaichuu, Hinata's doujutsu, and Inuzuka's keen sense of smell—which alerted them to the presence of predators and allowed them to circumvent both natural and man-made traps—the trek through the forest was unnerving. It didn't help that from the moment they stepped foot into the arena they'd all felt like they were being watched, but no amount of chakra-sensing or physical observation could identify a culprit. Shino _knew _they were alone and yet the sensation of eyes boring into his back was as palpable as the humidity that pressed down on him.

It was causing them no small amount of paranoia.

Team 8 was fortunate that the first group they chose to ambush had carried with them their needed heaven scroll. The team of Suna-nin had been swiftly dealt with—incapacitated and incarcerated before Shino could even break a sweat—and Team 8 had been steadily travelling north ever since, careful to avoid other shinobi. They'd been successful so far but Shino wasn't foolish enough to think their luck would hold. Even the mutt, whose arrogance could replenish an exsanguinated river, was uncharacteristically wary of confronting other teams.

"Let's take to the trees," Shino said, peering up at the dwindling light of the sky. The trees rustled grimly and made shapes out of shadows that played tricks on the mind. "We should be able to cover two miles before nightfall if we go at seventy-five percent full pace."

"Y-yes, we s-should—"

Hinata was cut off as another piercing scream split the air, shattering the quiet. Shino flinched at the noise which even the trees seemed be at the mercy of, malachite leaves trembling as if the sound itself was ricocheting off their massive trunks. Around them the wildlife went silent, went still, like a snake coiled in anticipation before poising itself to strike.

An unsettling chill seeped into the air, and an unnatural mist drifted in its wake.

"_Fuck_," Kiba cursed lowly, head angled in the direction of a battle they could now all hear. It was close enough that they could feel warring chakra trickling from the area and that was enough to set them all on edge. "Let's go. _Now_. That is way too close for comfort and there's no way in hell I want to get caught up in something like that. Remember this morning?"

As if any of them could forget.

Shino's thoughts flickered back to the battle they'd all felt earlier, barely hours after the start of the second exam. The chakra and killing intent they'd sensed hadn't belonged to a genin, or even a chuunin, of that Shino was certain. Chakra that potent, that overwhelming, that _heart-stopping_ _vile, _could only belong to an elite jounin or _higher_, and Shino's instincts screamed at him that it was likely the latter.

Hours later he could _still_ feel echoes of it slithering over his skin.

There was no plausible reason Shino could discern that would permit someone of that caliber entry into the forest. Not during something as politically precarious as the Chuunin Exams. It _reeked_ of foul play but Shino had not been curious, or suicidal, enough to investigate. His team had promptly made a break for it, stopping only when they'd put two miles of distance between them and whoever's chakra that had been.

Clearly they were still shaken up about it. Both his teammates looked absolutely terrified and Shino doubted he was hiding his own trepidation as well as he would have liked.

"Seventy-five minutes at ninety-five percent full speed," Shino amended gravely. The instant his teammates nodded in affirmation he leapt up the nearest tree.

Shino glanced behind him at the seemingly endless forest and thought for what was possibly the hundredth time that day, _please let her be okay_. Then he resolutely turned around and followed his teammates as they treaded further into the umbrage of the unknown.

* * *

Twenty-one hours. That was how long it took Team 8 to make it to the central tower. It was with no small amount of relief that they were reunited with their jubilant jounin-sensei and led to what would be their rooms for the duration of the second stage of the exam.

They didn't break the record for fastest arrival time but they were the first of the current group to make it there, and that soothed the sting of disappointment Shino repeatedly told himself was unwarranted. His team had made it to safety mostly unscathed and that truly was no small accomplishment.

Shino spent the next few days exploring the tower, which he later discovered was the typical resting point for jounin who used the forest for its actual purpose. He also trained, though the constrained space and lack of privacy made it difficult to do so.

And then there was the waiting.

The team of Suna-nin consisting of the Kazekage's progenies had been the second group to arrive. They'd entered the tower two hours after Team 8 but with a noticeable difference, and one that made unease settle in the base of Shino's spine: none of them had a single mark on them—not a scratch, not a bruise, not a strand of hair out of place or a speck of dirt above their ankles. He remembered what that _Kabuto Yakushi _person had said about the team, particularly the youngest of the three, and had felt less inclined to dismiss his claim as the scare tactic he'd initially believed it to be.

When Inuzuka made a comment about smelling blood on the trio, Shino's instincts, at odds with his rationality, told him him that it likely wasn't theirs.

Either way, Team 8 made it a priority not to engage them.

The other teams began to trickle in slowly after that. Maito Gai's team arrived at the forty-hour mark, followed by a group of Oto-nin, and later, Sarutobi Asuma's team.

It was the fourth day and there was still no sign of Naruto.

Shino tried not to obsess over her absence, tried not to worry himself sick, but his endeavors were as futile as attempting to capture a sunbeam with a butterfly net. When he wasn't perusing the scrolls in the library, which were restricted to Konoha-nin, training in his small room, or accompanying his team as they explored the tower, he was perched on a window at the highest level with a near-perfect view of the entrance gate.

That was where Shino now resided, eyes trained on the surrounding forest as it shifted and unfolded under the light of the afternoon sun. Now that he was no longer at its mercy and safe from the dangers it secreted, Shino could acknowledge that the forest held a certain…allure to it. It was beautiful in the way lethal things tended to be, the illusion it cast as deadly as any danger that laid within. From where he stood the forest was a rolling sea of colors, from the deepest green to the brightest gold, and it swayed with the wind in a simulacrum of heaving waves.

He was so entranced by the sight that he almost missed the approach of two others. He turned his head as the silhouettes of his teammates swept into the room.

"I told you this was where he was probably brooding at," Inuzuka crowed victoriously.

"I-I a-apologize for d-doubting you, Kiba-kun."

"'S'alright, Hinata-chan," Kiba grinned and ruffled the girl's hair.

It might have been a trick of the light but Shino was almost certain her expression had turned peeved.

"So, bug boy!"

Shino narrowed his eyes in irritation. "Is there something you wanted, _mutt_, or have you just come to be a nuisance?"

Inuzuka's grin sharpened. "Oh? Well, I guess you don't need to know what this _nuisance_ was going to say. C'mon, Hinata, you heard the guy. He wants to be left alone."

"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata admonished. She stood her ground when Inuzuka made to drag her away. "T-that isn't very n-nice!" She turned pointedly and said, "S-Shino-kun, N-Naruto-chan is here."

"Spoilsport," Inuzuka grumbled. Neither of them paid him any mind.

Shino sat up from the ledge so quickly the world threatened to tilt. "She's here?" He asked sharply. "When did she get here? Was she injured?"

"Yes," Inuzuka drawled, clearly pleased that he had the upper hand, "and how are we supposed to know? We bumped into Sakura on our way to the canteen but she ran off before we could ask."

That was all Shino needed to hear. He made a beeline for the door, startling his teammates as he quickly sidestepped them. He paused once he stepped through the threshold and, after a moment of hesitation, turned.

"Thank you for letting me know," he told them.

Inuzuka rolled his eyes and glanced away while Hinata simply smiled. Shino nodded briefly in gratitude and hurried to the stairs that would lead him to the lower levels. In a tower that large it would take Shino ages to look everywhere so he targeted the places he figured she was most likely to be. He checked the medic station first and was unimaginably relieved to know she wasn't there. He completely bypassed the library and archive room. The room reserved for Team 7 was empty and there was no sight of her in the training room. That left the canteen. Had Shino been of sounder mind he probably would have searched there first.

His eyes were roving the moment he stepped into the large, oddly-shaped room, overlooking everything that wasn't garish and bright. He spotted her as easily as one would spot a sunflower in a pile of gravel, and his feet moved instinctively even as his mind assessed, catalogued, and reassured.

There were no signs of injury that he could see and any physical indicators of them were gone, either washed away or concealed beneath rumpled clothing. He observed her movements for stiffness or delay and cautiously deduced that she was without serious injury upon finding none. That she was laughing brightly and eating vigorously allayed the rest of his fears and when Shino finally reached her table he found he was in a much calmer state of mind.

Naruto turned her head as he approached and her grin widened at the sight of him. Shino was pleased to note that the food on her tray and the people that surrounded her were all but forgotten. She jumped from the bench and rushed at him, and Shino barely had time to brace himself before he was collided into by an orange and yellow blur.

"Shino!" Naruto shouted. When she looked up at him her eyes were sparkling, relief and elation brightening the irises from cobalt to teal. "_God_, it's so good to see you! Sorry I didn't come find you earlier, but when we got here, which was about three hours ago I think, we had to talk to Kakashi-sensei and take Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan to the infirmary and then I really, _really _needed a shower because holy crap, _I was eaten by a giant snake_ and covered in things I don't want to ever think about," she paused to shiver theatrically, "and then I decided to look for you but I found the canteen and they had _ramen _and I was _starving _and I couldn't resist and then Chouji and the others found me and I got distracted and yeah. By the way, were you looking for me? How did you know I was here?"

She sucked in air like she'd run out, which Shino figured she probably had, and looked at him expectantly.

Shino chose to focus on the last question instead of the fact that she'd apparently been _eaten by a giant snake. _For the time being, he didn't want to know.

"I…yes. My teammates came across Haruno-san earlier and I was only recently made aware that you were here."

"Oh. Cool." She pulled away, to Shino's immense displeasure, and led him to the table where she promptly retook her seat. Shino nodded at the members of Team 10 and slid in beside her.

"Man, the ramen here is really good. Anyway, how was the forest? How fast did you guys get here? Is everyone alright?" She asked in between slurping down large gobs of noodles. Shino counted eight ramen cups and restrained a sudden urge to smile.

"It was…unexpectedly easy, though that was in large part due to our success in evasion. We collected our necessary scroll within an hour of entering the forest and only encountered one other team, which we dispatched swiftly. We made it to the tower in twenty-one hours and unscathed for the most part. We were lucky in that regard."

Naruto stared at him. She dropped her chopsticks into the cup, ignoring the splatter it made, and said, "_Seriously_? Holy shit."

Shino tried not to preen in the face of her wonderment. "Our team specializes in stealth and tracking. That being the case, it's only logical to infer that such a trial would give us little trouble."

Naruto rolled her eyes. "Shino, you really suck at trying to sound modest."

The members of Team 10 snorted loudly and Shino shot them a withering glance. "Then it will be the last time I make an attempt."

"It's best that you don't," she agreed, seriously.

The laughter in her eyes gave her away and made Shino's face grow warm.

"Seriously though, you _need _to teach me that stealth stuff because our team sucks at it big time. I'm pretty sure we sounded like a horde of elephants stomping through that stupid forest because I swear, everyone and their _mother _found us. It was like they were all lining up at the chance to go at us. Once we got rid of one of them another popped up to take their place. It was…_awful_."

Shino's heart thudded in alarm as an unnamable shadow flickered over Naruto's face. Her eyes darkened to the color of the winter sky during a storm and her whiskers shifted and arched, pulled down by the sudden downturn of her mouth.

"What happened?" he quietly pressed as he catalogued the sudden change in her. Shino did not like the expression on her face, nor did he like the sight of her back becoming ramrod straight while her shoulders remained hunched—pulled towards her ears like she had something she desperately wanted to hide. Whether it was from him, from the others, from the world at large, or even from herself, Shino did not know. All he knew was that he needed to discover whatever it was that made her look like a child caught in the midst of a hurricane, discover it and reel it in and chase it away for good.

He waited patiently, ignoring the presence of anything, anyone, that wasn't the girl tucked at his side. His vision tunneled. The noise in the room dimmed to a murmur then faded to white noise in the background. People's faces blurred and they became silhouettes against a shadowed backdrop. The room seemed to contract around them, closing in from all the sides. Despite knowing otherwise, it was as if only they two had remained, the world a distant void around them.

Naruto drew in a shaky breath and closed her eyes. Several heartbeats later she opened them and said, "It started when…"

Shino listened, and with each passing word, became overwhelmed with dread.

* * *

"Winner: Aburame Shino!"

Shino adjusted his glasses and recalled his kikaichuuu as the stadium went wild with applause. The noise was deafening. He absently stepped over the hand that had once belonged to his opponent, Abumi Zaku, and left the arena just as the medics rushed to retrieve the wounded Oto-nin from where he lay in a pile of scorched dirt.

"G-good job, S-Shino-kun!" Hinata praised as he slid onto the bench beside her.

"Thank you, Hinata-san." Shino felt quite pleased himself.

"Yeah, Shino, you were awesome!"

Shino glanced to his left to see Naruto vibrating in her seat, hands tight around the pole in front of them as if to keep her from launching into the arena before it was her turn. He quirked his lips at her exuberance and dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"Ugh, when are they going to call me already? I'm _dying _here!"

"Dying to lose, are you?" Inuzuka taunted. Shino shot him an irritated glare, which was ignored.

"Oi!" Naruto shouted, craning her head. "Watch it, dog breath. You better hope you don't have to fight me or else your ass is gonna be _mine_!"

"Oh? Getting a bit forward there, Naruto-chan," the mutt taunted.

Shino's glare hardened to steel.

"S-shut up, stupid!" Naruto spluttered.

Shino would have appreciated the fact that she was scowling at him a lot more if she weren't blushing, too.

Inuzuka barked an infuriating laugh and returned his attention to Akamaru, who was yapping about something none of them could hope to understand.

"So troublesome," he heard Shikamaru mutter behind him.

_More than he's worth_, Shino thought viciously.

"He's such an ass," Naruto murmured beside him. She scooted closer until there wasn't an inch of space between them and sank heavily into his side, as if whatever energy-laden strings that were keeping her up had been cut.

"A surprising remark, coming from you," Shino commented evenly. He could almost feel Naruto's glare burning into the side of his face.

"Not really," she muttered.

Shino's eyes sharpened and he stared at her. "What you do mean?" Then more quietly, so as not to be overheard, "I thought you…_cared_ for the mu—_Inuzuka_."

Ripping out his tongue would have been easier than uttering those words.

Hesitant eyes glanced his way then away. "Not…not so much these days."

The world came to a halt. "What?"

Naruto shrugged as if she didn't care one way or another, but the fact that she could barely look at him, and her arms were crossed in a manner that projected defensiveness, spoke volumes.

"I don't know," she whispered. "I just…don't, _y'know, _anymore. I mean…ugh, I don't know. I just don't. I guess it's probably because we don't see each other much anymore and when we do," she cringed, "he's always being an ass."

She bit her lip and added sheepishly, "The last time he called you 'bug boy' I almost punched him. That…that's a pretty good indicator that I don't feel the same way, I think. Not that I didn't always hate that!" she added hastily, "or that I wouldn't have pounded him if he messed with you! But…I was stupid around him and…yeah," she trailed off uncertainly.

"Oh," was all Shino could think of to say.

He forced down the urge to do something entirely inappropriate, like smirk, and cleared his throat. "I can't say I'm not…relieved by this outcome. He…was never good enough for you."

Shino just barely caught the sound of her breath hitching and found it rather hard to breathe himself when she wrapped her fingers around his hand in a bone-shattering clutch.

He stared resolutely down at the arena, where the exam proctor introduced the next two combatants. Tsurugi Misumi and Suna's Kankuro threw barbs at one another until Kankuro aimed a sudden spinning-kick at his opponent's stomach which sent the boy flying several feet into the air. The crowd buzzed in excitement at the exhibition, but it was a muted hum compared to the elation Shino was feeling.

_Naruto didn't love Inuzuka anymore. _And by the sound of it, hadn't for some time.

Only a decade of practiced stoicism kept Shino's face from erupting into an imbecilic grin.

"I…" Naruto started, then stopped. She licked her lips and continued, "I…there's someone else I like now."

And as quickly as a meteor flashed across the sky, vanishing within the blink of an eye, Shino's elation was gone, extinguished into cinders and replaced by the too-familiar chill of despair.

The hand captured between Naruto's unyielding fingers went limp.

"I say _now_," she continued, oblivious to the way misery was veining around the pulsing organ in his chest, "but that's not exactly true. I think…I think the potential for it has always been there but I never…but because I always did my best to ignore it, it just…never went anywhere."

Shino desperately wished she'd stop talking.

"There were reasons for that. Lots of them. Some of them seem kind of stupid now, but…anyway. I just didn't want to push my luck. I didn't want to scare the person off, which would have been…bad. I also didn't think I was good enough…which, y'know, was pretty stupid because I'm _awesome_, but back then I didn't really…yeah. Then there was the fact that I didn't think he liked me like that…though now I'm not sure if that was ever the case. And…I didn't…" She exhaled deeply and tightened her grip over Shino's hand. "Most of all, I didn't want to lose his friendship."

_I didn't want to lose his friendship. _

Shino went completely still.

"So yeah. All that happened, and now this happened, and it's a new thing I'm still getting used to. Oh, look!" She pointed towards the arena. "That guy wearing make-up was a puppet! That's so cool! I want one of those!"

He was distantly aware of Naruto babbling about the match but Shino could barely hear her over the sound of his heartbeat thundering in his ears. He became blind, and deaf, to the world around him, every iota of his attention focused on what Naruto had said, the words reproducing like a vast echo.

_I didn't want to lose his friendship. _

How many male friends did Naruto have? Not many, Shino knew. There was the Akimichi, but everyone knew he harbored a crush on Hinata. Nara was also a possibility, but Shino was more inclined to think of them as acquaintances rather than friends.

Then there was the Uchiha. Shino thought long and hard about Naruto's teammate before dismissing him entirely. While he and Naruto were friends of a sort _now_, they certainly hadn't been before. No, the arguments and fights the two used to have (and still did) had been genuinely antagonistic. It wasn't anything like the spats between Yamanaka and Nara, which hinted at an attraction neither of them would admit to, or the arguments he sometimes overheard Kurenai-sensei and Sarutobi-sensei having, which held an undertone of flirtation to anyone keen enough to notice.

Shino licked his lips, which had gone dry, and tried not to get excited about being the only person to survive the process of elimination. There were still so many possibilities to take into account. For all he knew, Naruto could have befriended someone Shino didn't know about (unlikely, but still possible). Or she could have been referring to someone Shino hadn't considered because he'd miscalculated the depth of their relationship. The logical approach would be to reserve judgment until he either had more variables to assess or Naruto put him out of his misery and told him who it was. Shino _knew _that, but.

But despite his upbringing he'd always had a propensity for romanticism, especially where Naruto was concerned, and he'd long since resigned himself to seeing constellations where only simple stars existed.

He couldn't silence the small voice in his head, the one that appealed to the part of him that would always hope, as it whispered that it couldn't _possibly_ be anyone other than him. When Shino was added to the equation it just made _sense_, the variable needed in a sequence of numbers to reach the necessary sum.

Shino had been her first friend, and her only _best _friend since.

Shino knew that she'd always held some level admiration for him.

There'd been a period of time in their childhood when Naruto had been uncharacteristically insecure of her place in his life, though she'd grown out of it quickly enough.

And most importantly of all, Shino certainly loved her—had since the first moment he saw her, or so it sometimes felt, and likely would for the rest of his life.

It all _fit, _like puzzle pieces slotting into place and words coming together to form poetry. He wanted to turn and ask but he couldn't. He didn't know if the feeling of _rightness _that overcame him was because it was actually true or because he wished so hard for it to be so. That morsel of doubt, small as it was, was enough to keep the question lodged in his throat. Even so, he could resist the temptation to look at Naruto in hopes of being able to _see _the truth no more than a compass could resist the pull of magnetic north.

Shino glanced down at the girl who was pressed against his side just as she tilted her head to look up at him. He watched, dazed, transfixed, as her eyes widened into pommels and blood rushed to her cheeks. Naruto was blushing. She was _blushing_. He continued to stare as she licked her lips self-consciously and glanced away, eyes riveted to the match once more. Only when she started squirming and he realized he was making her uncomfortable did he look away, though never for long.

Things continued in that vein as the preliminaries progressed. Shino watched the matches that took place with divided, though admittedly unequal, attention. He kept one eye on the fighting while Naruto seared an imprint on his side.

Yamanaka Ino versus Haruno Sakura.

Tenten versus Temari of the Sand.

Nara Shikamaru versus Tsuchi Kin.

And finally, Uzumaki Naruto versus Inuzuka Kiba.

"Wow," Naruto whistled. "Talk about coincidence. Or maybe this is irony?"

Shino, momentarily distracted from his dilemma, snorted in agreement.

"Get ready to get your ass kicked, Uzumaki!" Kiba hollered as he jumped down to the field. "I'm not gonna take it easy on ya just 'cause you're a girl!"

"In your dreams, dog breath!" Naruto shouted after him, rising. She rubbed her hands together and said gleefully, "I guess it's my turn to kick ass. I'd say wish me luck but I won't need it!" She flashed Shino a blinding grin and bounced away.

Shino didn't let her take five steps before he grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop.

She looked back curiously.

His glasses had slid down his nose but he left them where they were so she could see his eyes clearly as he said, "Neuter him."

Naruto's grin was wide enough to split her face. "When I'm done the vet won't know what to do with him."

Shino nodded, squeezed her hand, and let her slip away.

"You know," Sarutobi-sensei drawled after a minute, "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to support your teammates."

Yamanaka snorted. "Please, Asuma-sensei. As if anyone here had any doubt he'd support Naruto-chan over everyone else." She directed her gaze to Shino and said slyly, "Isn't that right, Shino-kun?"

Shino didn't dignify that with a response. He ignored Yamanaka's knowing gaze and shrieking laughter and followed Naruto's descent to the arena. Barbs were shared between her and Shino's teammate, to absolutely no one's surprise, and things picked up quickly once the proctor gave his signal and fell back.

It was a vicious match. While Inuzuka was brutal at taijutsu, Naruto was no slouch either. She gave just as much as she got, hitting with a strength Shino knew must have surprised the mutt. Naruto, for all her short stature and lithe build, was _strong_. Her first solid kick sent her opponent sailing across the arena and Shino took vindictive delight in the way the onlookers sat stunned.

Not only was she frightening with her hits, but she was quick, too, blocking fast and attacking faster. She was a blur of bright colors as she danced around him with the ease and dexterity of the wind—flawless, and cutting, and fluid, and swift.

And she was _tenacious. _Nothing could keep her down. Hits that would have left most kunoichi unconscious seemed like they nothing to her. If she couldn't block them then she rolled with them and not once did she allow herself to fall.

In-between attacking and defending and pushing forward and falling back she taunted Inuzuka, voice loud enough to reach even the Hokage at the highest stand. She mocked, and belittled, and cackled until Inuzuka was a spitting, raging servant of fury, logical thought lost to the red hue that had taken over his mind. While the tactic made him stronger, faster, and more instinctive it also made his movements sloppier, disjointed, and easier to predict.

And Naruto used that to her advantage.

The proctor called the match in twenty-six minutes. Naruto walked away, covered in bruises and slashes and clothes stained with blood, while the medics hustled to retrieve her opponent. She acknowledged the subdued smattering of applause with a feral grin and quickly took her seat beside Shino and collapsed against him.

"Next match: Morino Tsubaru and Kasanagi Torumaru!"

"Oh, thank god. Wake me up when one of ours has to fight okay?" She said, then promptly fell asleep with a swiftness only those accustomed to going without could manage.

"What a frightening girl," Kurenai-sensei commented, sounding far more pleased than Shino would have expected. He supposed it had to do with the jounin's desire to see more capable kunoichi rising through the ranks; apparently the satisfaction of a fellow kunoichi 'sticking it to society' was at least equally important as her loyalty to her team.

She turned to Hinata and added, "I'll be expecting you to do your best as well, Hinata-chan."

Hinata squeaked and ducked her head, and Kurenai-sensei sighed. Not soon after did she stand up and leave, probably to check on Inuzuka at the infirmary.

"Oi, Shino! How the hell did Naruto get so strong, anyway?" Yamanaka asked, leaning forward to peer at him.

"The way anyone else gets strong," Shino enunciated slowly, "by building muscle mass and training vigorously."

Ino shot him an unimpressed glare, huffed "Reticent bastard," and leaned away.

Shino didn't know what else she expected him to tell her.

Naruto twitched against him and Shino shifted to better accommodate her. Once they were both more comfortable he leaned back and allowed the smile that had been pulling at the corners of his mouth for some time now to break free. Pride coiled in his stomach and filled his chest and it made him want to toss his head back and laugh because his girl was _brilliant _and _remarkable _and for a moment everyone had been witness to it. Her greatness had stunned the whole stadium into _silence. _

_They won't be able to sweep this under the rug,_ he thought smugly, thoughts flickering to the Academy and the instructors who had tried, and regrettably succeeded, in suppressing her accomplishments. _There's no going back from this. _Naruto had successfully shattered their illusion of her as a talentless nonentity and they'd have no choice but to reevaluate each preconceived opinion now that their ignorance was staring them in the face.

Shino didn't doubt that there would be those who'd resist, but he had limitless faith in Naruto. She'd keep on breaking down their notions of her until they crumbled into debris and the only remaining option would be to rebuild.

* * *

_**to be continued.**_

* * *

**[OMAKE]**

Training that day had been grueling.

Kurenai-sensei had never been a soft teacher. She was lenient, but she wasn't _soft_. She had high expectations of her genin and the members of Team 8 had long ago learned that failing to meet them was…_detrimental_ to their collective well-being. No matter how exhausted they were, be it physically or mentally, when Kurenai-sensei said _get up and keep going, _Team 8 did so without complaint.

Needless to say, Shino was no stranger to being pushed to his limits. Chakra exhaustion, mental fatigue, muscle strain—he was _used _to it. They were _all _used to it. It was, after all, nothing that couldn't be remedied with proper medical attention and a full night of rest.

However, that was before Kurenai-sensei had learned about Team 7's C-rank turned A-rank mission, not to mention the atypical final round of the Chuunin Exams, and had promptly increased the intensity of their training twentyfold.

With a bone-weary sigh, Shino forced his feet to go in the opposite direction of his compound (and incidentally, his bed) and made his way towards the main river. Regardless how exhausted he was he would not break the promise he had made with Naruto to come by and meet her new sensei. Not when her trust had already been shattered once that month.

Shino grit his teeth and resolutely forced his thoughts away from the _inconceivably useless _jounin who had abandoned Naruto when she'd needed his help his most. Just thinking about the _temerity _of that man made Shino want to commit acts that would likely land him in the Torture and Interrogation department within the day.

The way Naruto had looked when she'd told him that Hatake had disappeared with the Uchiha to train him, eyes dull with disappointment and voice laced with defeat, was imprinted in his mind like a physical brand. Shino had not seen Naruto look like that since they'd been children, back when the words and actions of the villagers still had such an impact on her, and for that alone Shino would never forgive him.

Only the fact that Naruto hardly needed Shino to fight her battles for her kept him from doing something reckless.

With an exhale that bordered on a growl, he tried to clear his thoughts. It would not do to dwell, especially when he was about to meet with Naruto. She did not need to be reminded of Hatake's betrayal, and Shino wanted no part in upsetting her further.

The walk to the river was a relatively short one. Several civilians nodded to Shino in respect as he passed them by, but the way they shuffled away from him and shot him wary glances did not go unnoticed. He ignored it all, as accustomed to the treatment as he was to breathing, and kept his gaze forward.

It didn't take long to leave the market district, and he felt his shoulders ease by a fraction as he descended into a more rural area of the village which was densely populated by trees that seemed to touch the sky, gnarled roots the size of farm animals, and calf-high grass that spread out into rolling green pastures.

Shino heard Naruto's voice before he saw her, but that wasn't uncommon. What stopped him in his tracks was the sight of her in an orange swimsuit (and Shino had to wonder how she managed to find so many items of clothing in that same garish color) that was a few sizes too small and left very little to the imagination. Shino swallowed heavily and tried not stare as she bounced on her heels in obvious excitement.

Admittedly, he wasn't succeeding very well.

"Shino!" Naruto shouted when she caught sight of him. "You came!"

Shino quickly averted his gaze when she bounded towards him. "I said I would," he said, voice deceptively even.

"And you never break your promises," Naruto chirped, grabbing his arm. "Come, I want you to meet someone!"

It was then that Shino remembered the purpose of the visit and he finally took notice of the other person there.

It was a man. Older, perhaps in the mid-to-late fifties range. He was tall and heavily muscled, so a combat fighter, then, and an efficient one if his age and hair length (which was bone white) was any indication. Only experienced shinobi with the confidence and skill would dare to keep their hair so long. Shino continued his scrutiny, noting the horned hitai-ate with the kanji for _oil _engraved at the center and the crimson stripes that ran down his eyes like tear tracks. Possibly paint, but more than likely a tattoo of sorts if the way it reflected light was anything to go by. Carried with him a large scroll so either a summoner or someone adept at fuuinjutsu. If the the man was who he thought he was, likely both.

"Shino, this is—"

"The Toad Sage, Jiraiya," Shino asserted with a hint of genuine surprise. "One of Konoha's Legendary Sannin. Student of the Sandaime Hokage and teacher of the Yondaime Hokage. Seal Master and currently the only person who holds the Summoning Contract with the toads."

Naruto gaped at him. "What! You've met before?"

"No. Jiraiya-sama's reputation precedes him."

"Ho-ho," the subject of their discussion chuckled. "I think I like you, kid! At least you know how to respect greatness when you see it, unlike a certain _disrespectful little runt_ here."

"Greatness my ass!" the 'disrespectful little runt' shouted.

"Watch it, you ungrateful brat!"

"Make me, pervert sage!"

"What did I tell you about calling me that!"

"I'll call you whatever I want! Pervert sage, pervert sage, pervert—_ahh_!"

Shino proceeded to watch as one of Konohagakure's most prestigious figures chased around a genin, slipped on a wet patch of grass, and fell into the river. Naruto clutched her stomach and howled with laughter up until something long and white—_hair_, Shino realized belatedly—wrapped itself around her ankle and yanked her into the water, where she proceeded to flail and shout obscenities that would make Inuzuka Kiba blush.

As Shino watched, it struck him that he was looking at an older version of Naruto. He allowed himself a few seconds to mourn his life choices before he began to calculate how to go about stealing a DNA sample from one of the Legendary Sannin without him realizing it.

"Oi! Watch your hands, you pervert! Or I'm going to kick your old, wrinkly ass from here to Kumo!"

"Ha! As if you have anything to touch, brat! I've seen trees with more shape than you!"

"Why you dirty piece of saggy—!"

"Naruto," Shino interrupted. He absolutely did not want to know how Naruto was going to finish that sentence.

Naruto blinked and craned her head over her shoulder. "Oh! Hey, Shino. I forgot you were here!"

The Toad Sage snorted. "Some girlfriend you are. No wonder your boy over there looks so miserable."

Naruto's blush put tomatoes to shame. "He's not my boyfriend!" she said quickly, eyes flickering towards Shino.

"Really?" Jiraiya leered. "That's not what it sounded like when you were going on about how _wonderful _and _brilliant _and _oh-so-nice _Shino-kun was," he sounded suspiciously coy as he added, "But perhaps you were referring to another Shino-kun, eh? I've gotta admit, this kid doesn't look like much."

Naruto looked like she didn't know whether to die from embarrassment or pound the old man into the ground. To Shino's pleasure, she settled for saying, "Don't talk about him that way!" though it was ruined when she added, "And we're not dating, you pervert!"

Jiraiya nodded with an air of understanding about him. "Mm, I guess not. I don't really see the two of you together, anyway."

Shino felt the first stirring of irritation and he leveled a flat look at the smirking man.

"What?" Naruto rounded on him. "What do you mean?"

Jiraiya stuck a finger in his ear and stepped out of the river with a nonchalant shrug. "Oh, nothing much. Your vehement denial of dating the guy just makes a lot more sense when you think about it that way. You guys are total opposites, after all. Sorry, kid, I shouldn't have said anything."

Naruto looked horrified. "W-what! But! I-I didn't mean…_Shino!_"

She looked at Shino with such profound helplessness that he couldn't bring himself to let her reap the consequences of letting her mouth run.

With a sigh, Shino adjusted his glasses and suggested, "Why don't you show me that jutsu you've been telling me about, Naruto?"

"Yes!" she yelled with audible relief. "Good idea! Come on, Shino, get away from that creepy pervert and let me show you what I can do! It's _awesome_."

Shino disregarded the fact that he was still fully clothed and let himself be dragged into the river.

Naruto faced him determinedly, widened her stance, then lifted her hands to perform the ram hand seal. She faltered, stood immobile for several seconds, then let her hands fall to her sides along with her gaze.

"Shino…you know that's not true, right?" She muttered, kicking at the water. "About what he said, I mean. None of it is true, you know that, right? You…I mean, we…um…"

Shino huffed in amusement and captured one of her hands. "I know, Naruto," he said, simply.

Things were…promising, for the two of them. But it wasn't time. Not yet.

The girl promptly wilted with relief. "That's…good. I didn't want you to think—"

A poorly stifled giggle caught their attention and they both turned simultaneously towards the noise. Shino took several steps back as Naruto flailed at the sight of the Toad Sage squatting below them, steady as a stone above the waves. He had a pencil in one hand and a book in the other and he was staring between the two of them with enraptured delight.

"What do you think you're doing you damn pervert sage!" Naruto erupted.

"Oh, don't mind little ol' me," the Sannin encouraged them. He lowered the pencil to the book and said, "Continue what you two were doing, please."

"Are you…are you _using us as research material for your pervy books_?" she squawked.

"Of course I am," Jiraiya boasted, shamelessly. "I'm a popular novelist, after all, and I need to get my inspiration from somewhere." His gaze turned utterly suggestive as he continued in a whisper, "And the two of you are absolute gold! The chemistry between you! The closeness! Shino-kun over there will make the perfect protagonist for my next book: a sad, emotionally-crippled boy on the verge of manhood who struggled to open his heart to others until a brash young girl shows him the joys of the flesh and how it feels to be loved…" he broke off into peals of inappropriate giggles.

"I…I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU STUPID PERVERT! GET OVER HERE AND DIE!"

Shino stuffed his hands into his pockets and shuffled towards a nearby tree that had an inviting indent. He figured he could get away with taking a nap for an hour or so—he doubted Naruto would notice.

"AH! THAT'S MY BOOK, YOU BRAT! NO! DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TEACH YOU THAT WATER AND PAPER—"

"I SEE MY NAME IN HERE! AGH, I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU, YOU CREEPY LECHER! WAIT 'TIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"

Shino adjusted his glasses with a sigh.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, and drop a comment on your way out!**


	5. Sentiment

**Author's Note: **This is the very last chapter, guys, and really I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for coming along for the ride. It's been fun.

* * *

**CHAPTER V: SENTIMENT**

* * *

Shino was running.

All around him were the sounds of fighting—no, the sounds of _invasion, _because that was exactly what Sunagakure and Otogakure had conspired to do. Otogakure's part in it was more readily understood—they were an anomaly, a straggling country, and from the whispers he's overheard, commanded by the Legendary Sannin Orochimaru, Konoha's very own black stain.

Suna was an entirely different matter. Shino's blood simmered at the thought of their betrayal. The only silver lining in the ordeal was that after they'd been dealt with no other nation would trust them, as a consequence of their duplicity if not their humiliating defeat.

But that was a thought for another time.

Battle sounds carried over the wind; the screech of swords clashing, the thuds of bodily impact, the crackling of chakra and rumble of collapsing buildings, permeated by barked orders and pained screams and triumphant yells. In the distance was the panicked cries of the civilians and the heavy beating of their footsteps as they were evacuated; a luxury no able shinobi was given, and the noblest of them wouldn't accept even if they were.

Shino ran through the streets without stopping, the object of his mission within sight. He was quickly leaving the constraints of the village and breaching the edge of the forest. Relieved that a battle at their distance would not further endanger the village, he focused his chakra to his legs for additional speed. He caught up with his target within moments and leapt up a tree, the concentrated charka in his soles keeping him rooted to the jagged bark.

"Aburame!" Uchiha Sasuke glanced at him in surprise.

"Go," Shino said tightly, eyes leveled on his wayward opponent. He nodded grimly. "I'll handle this one. Go ahead and take care of the other."

Uchiha didn't need telling twice. "Don't get killed," he said, then bolted in the direction the two siblings had disappeared in, leaving Shino behind to deal with the third.

"You should worry more about yourself," Shino called after him. He was, after all, the one who would be engaging Sabaku no Gaara himself. Which was why Shino had to dispatch his target quickly and catch up to stand as support.

"_Tch!_ I don't have time for this," Kankuro growled. Shino watched avidly as he grabbed a loose section of bandaging from what he knew to be the puppet, Crow, and released it from its binding. It twirled in a facsimile of a tornado then spread its four arms wide. Shino caught sight of Kankuro's fingers moving and the puppet swayed in response.

"Then I suggest you make some," Shino commented, channeling his chakra. His allies moved through his skin and climbed upward, then stretched all across. He concentrated them along his arms where they gathered in a swarm that gave the impression of black clouds. He saw Kankuro's face morph into something resembling fascination and disgust and Shino offered him a ghost of a smile.

"Not that you'll have a choice," he added mockingly, and charged.

* * *

Buzzing. That was the first thing Shino was aware of upon awakening. The sound of buzzing and the feeling of being bled dry. He tried to open his eyes but the effort was as painful as it was draining and he barely had time to catch a glimpse of a dim, verdant world before his vision blurred and his lids fell shut.

The next time he woke up the buzzing was still present, but he could at least hear other noises in the background—cawing birds, trilling cicadas, rustling leaves, and what sounded a rather lot like large-scale exploding tags being detonated in the distance. Ever so carefully he peeled his eyes open but his caution was pointless in face of the harsh sunlight streaming over him.

He wondered where his glasses were. And then proper mental functioning kicked in and he adjusted the question to something more immediately helpful. Where was _he_?

Awareness was slow to trickle in which was probably why it took him so long to notice the figure at the periphery of his vision, which he'd mistaken to be a shadow. Shino could not prevent his body from stiffening even as the movement sent agony pulsing through his veins. The figure stepped closer just as Shino forced his head to turn, and the unquestionable sight of his _father _standing over him made his body go lax with relief.

"F-father?" He croaked, voice sandpaper rough. "W-what…?" And then it came to him. "Ah. I was p-poisoned," he stated, perhaps with more indifference than the situation warranted. But Shino was an Aburame above all else and his stoicism, in the manner of all shields, served more than a single purpose.

"Yes," his father intoned with a touch of amusement. "You'll be fine, Shino. My kikaichuu have already syphoned the majority of the poison. Your own allies will remove the rest once they've replenished themselves. Extravagant movement will be impossible for up to thirteen hours judging by the amount of poison in your system and the length of time it went unattended, but you'll live."

His father had never been one to mince words, for which Shino was grateful. "And my opponent?"

"If you're referring to the puppet-master and his doll, then they're both out of commission. I doubt either of them will functioning properly any time soon. At any rate, they've been bound. It never does to underestimate one's opponent, after all."

Shino sighed in relief. "Yes," he agreed, eyes fluttering. "Thank you, father."

Black spots were beginning to dance over his narrowing vision and shadows were creeping in at the corners, ready to overwhelm. Shino didn't bother fighting it. His father was there and would keep him safe.

"I won't be conscious for long," he cautioned.

"Rest, Shino," his father's voice sounded from so very far away. "You did well."

The golden sun seemed to take up the whole sky. That was the last thing he saw before his eyes fell shut, and it brought to mind other things, other people, he'd forgotten in the chaos of fighting, and falling, and being forced towards the threshold of death before being delicately snatched back.

"W-what…a-about…N…N…Nar…" He never got the chance to ask. He was seized by unconsciousness before he could get the question out and the words died on his heavy tongue.

* * *

The third time Shino came to awareness he was in enough control of his mental facilities to hope that waking from unconsciousness wouldn't become a frequent occurrence. Three times within the span of a―he glanced out the nearest window―day, possibly two, was humiliating enough.

Shino turned his gaze away from panel of glass that held back the shadows of night and drowsily surveyed his current location. He was in a room designed for medical procedures, that much was obvious from the overwhelming spread of white, the presence of medical equipment, and the cloying scent of antiseptic and fresh herbs. It took him a moment longer to realize that he was in the infirmary within his compound, which was a promising indicator that he was recovering well. Had his physical condition been dire, he would have found himself in Konoha's shinobi hospital.

After making sure that his allies were recuperating well and that he still had feeling in all his extremities, he let his eyes fall shut and recounted everything he could remember. His spirit plummeted when he remembered the invasion, his battle with Kankuro, and though the memory was hazy, the sight of his father cleansing his bloodstream of the poison he had foolishly inhaled.

Only the suspicion that he would likely fall on his face if he tried to stand kept him rooted to the bed. Otherwise, he would have been on his feet and seeking out answers. Shino had half a mind to do something as undignified as to _yell_ for someone before he caught the faint whisper of footsteps outside the infirmary.

A moment later Aburame Shibi slid the door open and stepped into the room, and though his expression was as blank as ever, Shino could see the physical evidence of his relief in the way his steps quickened and the stiffness of his shoulders eased into something less severe.

"Shino," Shibi said with an exhale.

"Father," greeted Shino. Knowing that his father hadn't been harmed was no small comfort.

"I'm relieved to see that you are awake."

"For which I have you to thank, if I recall correctly."

Shibi inclined his head and continued to advance forward, stopping only when there was an inch of space between him and the bed. He placed his palm over Shino's forehead and nodded, satisfied, before stepping back. Shino observed his father and concluded that he must have been suffering from a fever which, if the dampness of his collar was any indication, had only recently broken.

"Can I assume by your presence that the opposition has been dealt with?"

"You assume correctly. The invasion officially ended nine hours ago. It is twenty-three o'clock."

"Fatalities?" he inquired with the barest hint of hesitancy.

A heartbeat's pause, and then, "Aburame Sasami and her son, Shigure," Shibi said somberly. Eyes that resembled Shino's so minutely were filled with palpable remorse.

Shino thought of the pair, jounin and chuunin respectively, and the hybridizing research they'd been conducting between kikaichuu and various arachnid breeds. He didn't know either of them well, but he remembered that Sasami had an inclination towards string instruments and a talent for genjutsu, and that Shigure had only been a chuunin for a little under a year.

Silence hung between the two as they lowered their heads and sent a brief prayer for their fallen clansmen.

"Several shinobi and civilians were killed during the invasion," Shibi continued gravely. "We've yet to be given a precise figure but I've estimated it to range as high as sixty or seventy shinobi. I cannot deduce the number of civilian losses, regrettably. "

Sixty or seventy dead, and that wasn't including those who'd been wounded with disabling injuries. The number of casualties was far less than Shino had feared it would be, but it was no cause for celebration, either. It would take a long time, possibly years, maybe even decades, for Konoha to re-stabilize itself after losing so much manpower. Not only would the village need funding to rebuild itself and replenish lost resources, but the mission intakes would surely suffer, as well, either as a consequence of fewer shinobi or by outlying countries turning to other hidden villages because the invasion had given them the impression that Konoha was weak, and thus incapable of fulfilling their needs.

Shino's worry for the future of his village increased substantially when his father uttered the worst possible thing he could have.

"…The Sandaime Hokage was among the casualties."

Shino's inhaled sharply and closed his eyes.

He thought of the precarious position Konoha was now in because on top of everything else, they had lost their leader, too. The thought was brief for it was soon swallowed whole by memories of not the Hokage, Konoha's fiercely protective leader who preached the merits of the _Will of Fire _and passed it along as if were a flaming baton, but the man who had smiled kindly at Shino when Naruto had dragged him to his office so they could meet, and who let Naruto sit on his lap when the villagers were being particularly savage, and who had told him "Congratulations," in that deep, gravelly voice of his the first time Shino and his team had visited the Mission's Desk, eyes fond and voice proud.

"I see," he forced himself to say even as his heart threatened to beat its way past the constraints of his chest. Speaking the next words felt like treason. "Has the council decided upon a replacement?"

"Yes, though whether the candidate accepts the position remains to be seen," Shibi murmured, sounding wearier than Shino could ever recall him being.

"I see," Shino repeated, thoughts churning.

The heavy silence was broken by the approach of another set of footsteps further down the hall. The person walked too heavily to be an Aburame, and certainly not an experienced shinobi, and the pause between steps hinted at a stride too long to belong to a child not yet skilled at walking soundlessly. Shino compiled a list of people who, on top of fitting that description, would be permitted entry into such a sensitive area of the compound at that time of night, and narrowed it to one.

"Naruto," said Shino, with a relieved sigh.

He had known that she hadn't been a casualty, or even severely injured, for that would have been the first thing his father had reported. Still, there was a difference between being aware of something, and having it validated with one's own senses and _knowing _it to be true.

"She's been here for six hours," Shibi stated with a fondness that belied the severity of the situation. As with Shino's mother, Shibi had grown to care for the girl even though she was the antithesis of several ideologies the Aburame stood behind. "We've made numerous attempts to get her to rest, but you of all people know how she can be."

Fiercely protective. Stubborn to a fault. Loyal to the point of absurdity, even at the risk of her personal wellbeing.

Yes, Shino was intimately familiar with how Naruto could be when one of her precious people was hurt.

"She wakes up every hour to check up on you then returns to her room to sleep. Now, perhaps, she can finally be reasoned with."

Shino made a noncommittal noise in response to the doubtfulness that lingered in his tone.

As the footsteps drew closer, Shibi placed a steady hand on his son's shoulder.

"I'll take my leave then," he said with an unreadable look. "It is unlikely that I will see you again before tomorrow night, but your mother will remain nearby and see to your needs. While you are recovering adequately it is imperative that you refrain from overexerting yourself. Your body needs to rest."

Shino was in the process of inclining his head when his father, after a moment of hesitation, leaned forward and pressed a brief kiss to his head.

Shino could only stare at him in awe. It had been…many years since his father had displayed such open affection towards him. His father must have more affected by Shino's…_condition _than he had realized.

"Good night, Shino," Shibi murmured, withdrawing.

"Good night, father," Shino touched a hand to his hair and watched him leave, feeling no small amount of reluctance.

He heard their inevitable encounter not a moment later.

"Shibi-san!" came the muffled, yet unmistakable, voice of Naruto. For someone who had apparently not been sleeping well, she sounded surprisingly upbeat. "How's Shino?"

"Awake," he heard his father intone. "Keep in mind that he needs his rest, Naruto, as do you."

There was silence. Shino made it to the count of six before the heavy pounding of footsteps met his ears, followed by the piercing sound of the infirmary door being torn open and the resounding crash as it slammed into the wall.

Naruto dashed into the room with purposeful strides, saw Shino sitting there, clearly awake, and shouted, perhaps loudly enough to wake the entire compound, "About time, Shino!"

"You're being unnecessarily loud," Shino said with a wince, even as a tension he hadn't realized he'd been carrying fell away.

"Sorry, sorry," Naruto muttered as she approached, eyes roaming over him, searching. She paused a few inches away from his bed and asked in a softer tone, "How are you feeling?"

It warmed him from the inside out that Naruto, who was normally so loud and coarse, could sound that way towards him.

"Recovered. _Mostly_," he added when her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Some soreness remains, but that will pass with proper rest and adequate hydration. My system has been thoroughly cleansed of contamination, however, and I will suffer no side effects from being poisoned."

Naruto inhaled harshly and closed the distance between them in a single step. "I see," she said, and it worried Shino that there was something in her tone he couldn't place. "So…if I were to, say, hug you right now…you wouldn't collapse or start foaming from the mouth or anything, right?"

It was said jokingly, but Shino could see genuine worry shadowing her eyes.

"That is highly unlikely," Shino reassured her with a tiny quirk of lips.

"Okay," she nodded, then pounced.

Shino grunted as one-hundred and forty pounds of agitated girl landed on top of him, knocking the breath from his lungs and searing bruises into whatever patch of skin wasn't fortunate enough to evade her sharp elbows and knees.

He should have fabricated the truth somewhat, he realized belatedly. But then, he'd expected to be embraced, not tackled like a prison escapee.

"_Shino_," she gasped, interrupting his, perhaps unkind, train of thought. "Don't you ever, _ever _do that to me again, or so help me…" she made a keening noise, not unlike a wounded animal, and wrapped her arms around his neck so tightly he struggled to breathe. "You were unconscious for _hours_, and your dad said that if he hadn't found you when he did you would have died. _Died_, Shino. _God._"

"I…" Shino paused to think of something to say. Somehow an apology felt wholly inadequate. Doubtless because he knew what it was like to be on the other side; half-insane from worry and virtually paralyzed with fear.

The words _and this is how I feel every time you rush headlong into danger _dangled at the forefront of mind, but Shino wasn't quite petty or insensitive enough to speak them, true as they might have been.

In the end he settled for saying, "I'll strive to be more careful in the future," because that was the only thing within his power to promise, and the only thing he was brave enough to say.

"...That's…not good enough," Naruto admitted hoarsely.

"I know," Shino agreed. Because he did.

Naruto pulled away slowly and Shino clenched his hands into fists, which he kept firmly at his sides, to keep himself from reaching out and pulling her back where she belonged.

He was disturbed from his internal warring when something warm cupped his cheeks. When he realized that it was Naruto's _hands, _and that she was touching his face, _cradling it_, he felt himself go statue-still.

"Are you _really_ okay, though?" Naruto pressed. Her face was so close Shino could see flecks of silver strewn around the blue ring of her eyes. "You look sort of pale. Well, paler than usual, I mean."

Shino found it difficult to speak when his breath felt to have become trapped in the void between his lungs. "I-I'm fine," he forced out, keeping his gaze trained on her eyes and not the delicate slope of her nose, or the indent above her lips, or the inviting arch of her shapely pink mouth.

Any other time, Shino would have elaborated, if only to further reassure her. But this wasn't _any other time_, and Shino's thoughts had turned to scattered motes from the moment Naruto's warm palms connected with his skin.

"You better not be lying," she huffed softly. When she shifted, Shino thought―

(hoped, lamented, repined)

―she'd been about to withdraw, but no, she only trailed her thumbs over the contours of his eyebrows and burrowed the tips of her fingers into the jagged edges of his hair.

"I was worried," she repeated, voice a low rumble.

Her eyes were impossibly blue. It was as if someone had forged a ring from a lapis lazuli gemstone and set it to surround the black sphere of her eyes. The sphere which, as Shino watched, was beginning to swell, overwhelming the ring until it was no more than an incision line that bled blue.

The connection was broken when her eyes narrowed half-mast, obscured by the delicate skin of her lids and the brush of golden lashes as they fluttered down.

It took Shino a too-long moment to realize that she was _looking at his lips_ and suddenly he couldn't _breathe _properly, not when the temperature in the room had escalated to searing degrees and the focus of it, the source, was sitting a few meager inches away, so close that if Shino were to move, were to shift forward, were to close those scant inches between them and tilt his head and just…

And just…

But the moment was _shattered _when Naruto pulled away, cutting the connection, demolishing it, and somehow the action set the world to rights again. The room was no longer painfully warm, and all noise and color had returned, and Shino found that he could properly breathe once more, oxygen passing through his lungs the way it was supposed to.

The world was set to rights, but Shino couldn't help but feel that it was so much worse off. That perhaps a world that burned like magma, a world one couldn't properly breathe in, a world devoid of color and sound and shades of light, was the _better _option.

He had certainly never felt so alive than he did just then; energy thrumming beneath his skin and sparks of pleasure coiling down the length of his spine.

Shino closed his eyes against the sudden sensation of vertigo. He inhaled deeply, slowly, and carefully leaned back, feeling downtrodden and disoriented from the loss.

Loss. It was a curious thing to feel, as loss indicated that there had once been something to gain, but Shino knew that it had been so, knew it with the same certainty that he could say the earth orbited around the sun.

For a moment, no longer than the breath of space between ten heartbeats, they had been about to _kiss_. Shino had―no, _Naruto _had…

And then she had stopped.

She had pulled away from him.

Somewhere in the back of Shino's overwhelmed mind, he wondered if he'd been rejected. He allowed the thought to linger for a second or two before he pushed it so far back it became practically nonexistent. He couldn't allow himself to even _consider_ such a possibility. Not right then, when Naruto was sitting so nearby, radiating waves of guilt and misery that Shino swore he could feel seeping into his own skin.

He stared at her, unblinking, and took in the averted eyes and slumped shoulders and the rigid line of her lips.

Shino tore his gaze away from the latter and forced himself to say, "Naruto."

It was a question, a plea, a sigh, a snarl, a promise, a stall, and an affirmation all rolled into one single word.

After long minutes of a silence that was anything but, Naruto seemed to snap out of it, though what _it _was, Shino didn't know.

Naruto exhaled slowly, straightened her spine, and lifted her head, and Shino thought she looked like a soldier getting ready to fight a battle she had no guarantee of winning. He tensed just as she opened her mouth and said, "There's something I have to tell you."

Shino, caught in the gravity of her gaze, could do nothing else but nod.

"Do you," she stopped, drew her bottom lip between her teeth, then barreled on. "Do you know what an _jinchuriki _is, Shino?"

Shino did not, but the way she said the word made him somehow reluctant to find out. Despite his reservations he forced his head to shake, because it was something Naruto wanted him to know. No, that wasn't right—not if her expression was anything to go by. She didn't _want _him to know, rather, she _needed _him to. Which was why Shino answered honestly,

"I'm not familiar with the term."

The laugh that escaped her was anything but humored. "I didn't think you would be," she said with a smile so false it physically hurt to look at. "Hey, Shino? Don't hate me, alright?"

Shino didn't get a chance to form a response—to react, to question, to deny—before Naruto interrupted him with, "Thirteen years ago, on the tenth of October, Konohagakure no Sato was attacked by the Kyuubi no Kitsune and hundreds of shinobi were killed."

Shino's open mouth fell shut with an audible _click _and he stared at her, confused by the turn their conversation had taken.

Smile firmly in place, Naruto continued blithely, "No one could stop it, let alone harm it, until the Yondaime Hokage came and killed it, ending his own life in the process. Or, that's what the Sandaime wanted everyone to believe, anyway."

Shino's eyes widened at that revelation.

"See, the thing is, the Kyuubi _couldn't _be killed. It's impossible. Bijuu like the Kyuubi are beings of chakra and even if someone manages to damage them enough they just disperse for a while and then come back. The Yondaime knew that so he…he made some kind of pact with the Shinigami and sealed the Kyuubi inside the body of a baby at the cost of his own life. And that baby was…"

_You, _Shino finished, as everything finally, _finally _fell into place.

The way the villagers treated her, and why no one was allowed to offer an explanation. The reason behind Naruto's vast chakra reserves, healing abilities, keen senses, and stamina. Why the Sandaime Hokage had been so close to her, despite her being an orphan of no relation.

Meanwhile, other uncomfortable things were starting to make more sense—cut off sentences, wary glances, agitated gestures, plastic smiles; misdirection, distractions, half-truths, and outright lies.

And Shino had fallen for it. And when he hadn't, he'd never bothered to pursue the truth.

Because he'd trusted her.

Shino proceeded to listen as Naruto continued her story, too numb to act on the hundreds of impulses that were scrabbling for control in his head.

All the while, Naruto never lost her smile.

* * *

The Hidden Village of the Leaf. It looked like a smattering of multicolored and multishaped children's blocks from on top of the Hokage mountain, strewn about in various formations of design. The people looked even smaller, like thumbtacks on a map. The early morning sky was a vibrant fusion of silver, magenta, and mauve, and the village shimmered like gemstones beneath it, breathtaking and bright.

Shino drank in the sight of his village—battered from the the failed invasion but not bent, and never broken—and breathed in its unique scent, carried on the unpredictable patterns of the wind. He felt like he could have sat there for hours given the opportunity; hidden in plain sight with the world stretched out around him like an offering.

"You aren't going to say anything?" Naruto's voice cut through his musings.

Shino glanced at her, then away. Stone residue clung to his skin as he slid one hand up a pinnacle of the Yondaime's hair. "What would you have me say?" he asked after several minutes of taut silence.

"Anything!" came the furious whisper. "Tell me you're angry that I lied to you, that I'll never regain your trust, that you regret being my friend now that you know! Just say_ something!" _What started as a low hiss grew steadily into a shout that left a piercing echo in its wake.

Shino pressed his lips into a thin, hard line and refused to look at her. He supposed it was cowardice, of a sort, born from his desire to suppress his temper rather than any fear of confrontation one might expect. But his anger was a sparking ember at the base of his throat and Shino _would not_ abandon her to the heat of his tongue.

For all Naruto had lied to him, for all she had _distrusted_ him, she did not deserve to be used as a training dummy propped up for the sake of venting frustration. Shino would not disrespect her that way, nor would he reduce himself to likening a wild animal that lashes out when hurt.

And that was the core of it, Shino knew; the foundation beneath the anger and frustration, the point where everything converged, the focus. Shino was _hurt—_by her lies, by her mistrust, and perhaps most painful of all, by her lack of faith in him.

The moment it was fully acknowledged, all the excess—the ire, the vexation, the resentment—faded away. It was still there, simmering beneath the surface in a half-dead state, but it was quieter now, swallowed whole by emotions he hadn't wanted to feel. Where fire had once resided, ice now took its place, and the warmth of the sun beating over him did little to abate the chill.

Yesterday had been the start of it all; the dawning of the chasm that now laid between them. After seven months of secrecy, of half-truths, of outright lies, Naruto had finally told him the truth: she was what was known throughout the Elemental Nations as a _jinchuriki_. It held a different meaning for many—to some it meant _sacrifice _and _savior_, to others _abomination _and _weapon_. The only consensus seemed to be that they were _jailors_, and that was what it all came down to: Uzumaki Naruto, the girl who'd made herself of a home in the valves and arteries of Shino's heart, was the human host of the Kyuubi no Kitsune that had once ravaged their village.

Shino could have laughed at how little a difference it made to him.

There'd been a time when Shino had thought he'd known Naruto better than anyone. A time when he could have said the same in reverse. Now Shino had to wonder how much of it was true and how much had been a projection of his desires. The irony of it all was that in the end, in the grand scheme of things, Naruto hosting a demon was…inconsequential. It simply _didn't_ _matter_. She was the same brazen girl who saw nothing wrong with wearing orange, or eating ramen at all times of the day, or tackling people in the middle of the street. She was the same ridiculous girl who sang off-key, and always shouted, and kept on smiling even when she was hurt.

And that was the crux of the problem.

She had hurt him, for reasons he understood and others he could not comprehend, but…she was still _Naruto_. Still the girl he had chased after when he was a child, still the girl he'd held firmly onto once he'd caught up to her. Still the same person who had integrated herself so deeply into his system that Shino could barely consider himself whole. Still Naruto, who, despite everything that had happened, was more precious to him than the oxygen he breathed.

So when Naruto muttered "Whatever," and stood up, hair gleaming orange beneath the iridescent sun, Shino could not restrain himself from calling her name, or pulling her down, or drawing her into his arms where she belonged as surely as if she were a piece of him that had long ago broken off. Her cry of surprise was muffled by his jacket, as were the next stream of words which he pointedly ignored.

It was his turn to speak. His turn to be heard.

"You…are an idiot," Shino said fiercely. He tightened his grip when she made to pull away. "Perhaps even on a level only Inuzuka could claim. _Of course_ I'm angry. How could I not be?"

Naruto stiffened against him, but remained silent.

"I'm angry that you never told me. I'm angry that you lied to me. I'm angry that you kept that part of yourself hidden. But most of all…I'm _disappointed_, Naruto," he admitted.

Naruto looked at him with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but Shino cut her off with a shake of his head. He needed to tell her this, needed to get it off his chest, before it festered into something neither of them could tame. If there was any hope of mending the current rift between them, then they had to start _now_, and it could only be achieved by Shino putting his turbulent thoughts into words and Naruto actually _listening _for once_._

His hands curled into fists as he said, "You didn't trust me. I thought you knew me better than anyone, but _you didn't trust me_. Not with such an important secret, not to form my own opinion, and not to make the right choice. You…you just _decided _that I was going to react adversely and leave you behind, as if I were no different from the mindless _sycophants_ that make up the village, and I do not understand _why_."

Shino could not comprehend it. He was not blind to Naruto's insecurities, nor her fear of abandonment, but when had he _ever _given her the impression that he would toss her aside as if she meant nothing to him? As if she weren't his entire world?

While Shino hadn't been forthcoming with his feelings he had always made it a point to show her how special she was. How valuable.

But perhaps he hadn't. Perhaps, in his desperation to conceal the depths of his feelings, he'd hidden the other things, as well, such as his admiration, his fascination, and his respect for her. Perhaps they'd been miscommunicating all those years—sending and receiving letters to each other that were written in languages that only _resembled_ the other's.

The thought troubled him so greatly that when Naruto finally pulled away, Shino let her.

"I…I'm sorry," she said, gaze wavering and unfocused. "I'm _sorry_. I do trust you, Shino, more than_ anyone_, but…I was afraid. _I_ _know_," she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself as if to fend off a chill. Shino had to wonder if they were sharing the cold the way people could share body heat. "I know you wouldn't have rejected me, _I know that_, but there was always this little voice in my head that whispered _what if_."

Voice trembling with agitation, she continued, "And _you! _You'd just _be there_, smiling at me and encouraging me and _always_ _looking at me_ like I'm something _precious_, something _valuable_, and don't you _see_, Shino?" She asked desperately. "I couldn't _lose _that. I couldn't _risk _it."

She looked away and Shino was selfishly glad. He didn't know how much longer he would have been able to bear being caught under her distressed, miserable stare without coming apart at the seams and falling to pieces.

"You…you're more important to me than anyone," she continued thickly. "But you're not alone like I am. If you take me out of the picture you still have a whole _clan _behind you, Shino, you'll still have a hundred other people willing to take my place. But I don't have _anyone else_. Not anyone like you."

When she turned to him again her eyes were glistening with tears. "I'm sorry for lying to you and for not trusting you. I am. I just couldn't take the risk. It's not an excuse, I know that, but…I, it's…"

Shino saw her battle, and he saw when it was lost.

Tears spilled over as a heart-wrenching sob escaped and Shino moved without thinking, without realizing. He just gathered her in like the instinct he knew it was and held her as she trembled against him.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her cry, seen her _really cry_, with tears and coughs and the deep, rasping gasps that came from being unable to breathe. Shino couldn't _stand it_ and he hated himself, in that moment, for being the one to cause it.

"Alright, it's alright," Shino rasped, eyes staring forward, unseeing. They were blurry with tears but he could do nothing but try, and fail, to reign them in. "I apologize. I should have understood better. I shouldn't have pushed so hard. I'm _sorry_, Naruto," he bit his lip as his voice fractured over the words.

"I-I'm the one who's sorry," she whispered, shivering.

Or perhaps it was Shino who was shivering and Naruto was just reacting to it. He couldn't quite tell.

"No. It is I who owes you an apology," Shino said, throat tight with shame.

He forgot, sometimes, that their relationship was not that of equals. Not yet. Though she'd never asked for such a responsibility, Naruto owned Shino completely. There was very little of him he wouldn't willingly give to her, or that she couldn't forcefully take. As a result of that, it sometimes slipped his mind that the same could not be said in reverse.

Shino did not _own _Naruto. He could not demand of her the same things he so readily offered. He was not entitled to the privacy of her thoughts. Her secrets were not his to claim. As painful as it was to admit, Naruto was not _his,_ and his behavior towards her, his self-centered inconsideration, was...deplorable.

Naruto made a small noise of confusion. "For _what_?"

Shino removed his glasses with one hand and tucked them into the breast pocket of his coat. "What am I _not _sorry for?" he asked with a note of derision. "For reacting poorly. For making you cry. For not using the intelligence I pride myself on." Among other things.

Naruto let out a snort of a laugh, from which Shino found some semblance of forgiveness, and proceeded to sniffle. A massive shudder wracked through her, which Shino caught and echoed, and she sighed. Shino was unimaginably relieved to note that she had stopped crying.

"Are you alright?" he asked with some hesitance.

"Maybe," she hedged. "If…if _we're _alright."

Shino didn't need to contemplate a response. "Then you're alright," he said decisively, lowering his arms. "Come on, Naruto. Sit up."

"No," was her rapid reply.

Shino's eyebrows drew up in confusion. "No?"

"No."

"Why not?" A beat, and then, "I can't understand you when you speak into my coat like that, Naruto."

Naruto shifted against him. "I…got snot all over you," she forced out, sounding highly embarrassed.

It never failed to amaze Shino how effortlessly she could lighten his mood. "Of course you did," he sighed, though his lips were turned up at the corners.

He undid some of the bandaging on his arm, tore if off, and pressed the material into Naruto's hand. Naruto remained hunched over as she brought the bandages to her face and wiped it clean. The soiled cloth was discarded to the side as she sat up and pulled away.

With more calm than Shino would have expected to feel, he took everything in—her swollen eyes, the messy tear tracks, her watery smile—and leaned forward without thinking, eyes drawn to the fragile curve of her mouth.

_Now_, something inside of him whispered.

There was no room for doubts in his mind. No time for uncertainty or second-guessing. Within the span of two heartbeats he had already closed the distance between them, filling the unwelcome space with his form.

Shino had a moment to register the widening of her eyes before their noses brushed and their lips connected. Try as he might, he could not keep his eyes from falling shut.

_Wet_, was his first impression.

_Soft_, was his second.

_Perfect_, was his third.

The kiss tasted like salt and skin and perhaps the faintest residue of ramen, and even though it was nothing more than a simple touch―a chaste pressing of lips―Shino didn't think he had ever been a part of anything so perfect in his life.

Shino shivered when Naruto sighed against him, overwhelmed by the whisper of air that ghosted over his hypersensitive lips. He pressed closer when she made no discernible move to pull away, and tried to brand the memory of the moment into his mind. It was, perhaps, unnecessary, for he fervently doubted he would ever be able to forget the feel, the taste, the smell; the way their lips molded together with the pliability of clay and the rightness of rain after a period of drought.

Every second of it was something to hold onto, something to remember, something to cherish.

It was with immense reluctance that Shino finally pulled away, but his need to see, his need to observe, was as equally important as his desire to prolong the kiss for however long Naruto would permit it.

The vision he saw was enough to send his heartbeat into a frantic gallop.

Glazed eyes. Flushed cheeks. A hint of a smile twisting at the corners of her lips. Hands that were fisting the material of his coat—not to push him away, as he would have thought, but to keep him still, and pull him close, and anchor them both.

"So," Naruto said breathlessly. Her cheeks were tinted red. "So."

"So," Shino agreed, just as affected, and reeled her in for another kiss.

It was Naruto who deepened it, that time. Naruto who parted her lips and invited him in. And then everything started to move so fast that it became too much of an effort to keep track of who initiated what, and later, much later, after they had both gotten into the motion of things, where she started and he began.

Shino was lost in sensation, surrounded by it on all sides, while fire roared beneath his skin and threatened to burn him alive. Nothing else existed but the two of them, the world around them thrust to the background, and further, until it ceased to exist. What had been hesitant before, a tentative exploration in unchartered lands, was unfaltering now; intrepid.

To Shino's wonder, Naruto kissed like she did everything else―vibrantly, passionately, and without restraint. She was discontent to allow Shino control over their pace and apparently had no qualms about seizing dominance―either through unrelenting force, or underhanded nips and licks that she had early on discovered Shino had a weakness for.

Her hands, too, were avid participants. Unlike Shino, who kept his hands contained to harmless places like her waist, Naruto's were _everywhere_. They were in his hair, and on his face, and at his throat; they were trailing up the mounds of his chest and down the knobs of his spine; they were exploring the depths between his fingers, and the circumference of his wrist, and the scattering of hairs along his arms.

She was all over him, and inside of him, and absolutely everywhere, and Shino didn't think he would ever get enough of being encompassed so entirely. It was like being taken over from the inside out, and Shino knew that his willing capitulation was the most intelligent thing he had ever done.

Naruto broke the kiss to breathe and Shino just barely kept himself from chasing after her and retrieving what she had cruelly stolen. He panted and watched, mesmerized, as she licked the wetness from her mouth. There was no way to tell who it belonged to, or if it even belonged to any one of them, and the thought made him dizzy.

"So," she gasped after a moment. When she grinned the whole world seemed to brighten, though it was a poor emulation at best.

"So," Shino repeated. His face ached, and it took him a while to realize that it was because he was smiling.

"That was―" she interrupted herself to laugh.

"It was," Shino agreed, far too thrilled by what had occurred between them to worry about trivialities like redundancy.

"Are we…?" Naruto trailed off.

"If you are amenable to the idea," Shino said simply, even as his gaze sharpened, intent on catching each expression and nuance that passed over her face.

"Then we are." She met his gaze squarely.

Shino acknowledged what she was conveying and finally allowed himself to relax.

Naruto leaned forward and pressed a feather-light kiss to his cheek, and Shino marveled that such an innocent thing―at least, when compared to what they had just done―could still feel as devastating as a firebrand against his skin. His heartbeat decelerated from a rapid cadence to a steady hum as Naruto settled against him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Shino closed his eyes and leaned his branded cheek against her hair, then gazed out towards the village. Somehow, without him noticing, the village had woken from the widespread lethargy of daybreak and had come to life. The streets were bustling with people who were either going about their daily business or were setting whatever broken architecture there was to rights. Shinobi of various ranks leapt across jagged rooftops and swaying trees, sometimes drawing attention, sometimes not, but always in constant movement. As awareness continued to trickle in, Shino became mindful of the noise―the chattering of civilians, the sounds of woodwork and construction, the calls of peddling merchants, and the faint laughter of children coming from the Academy below.

"The view is awesome from up here," Naruto murmured, no doubt seeing what he saw and cherishing it as he did.

That she still could, despite all the villagers had done to her, and _continue _to do to her, never failed to astound him. Shino knew himself well enough to know that he wouldn't have handled the situation half as well had he been in her place. Even as an outside party, Shino could not temper the bitterness he felt towards those who had treated her like she hadn't the right to exist.

Shino loved his village, would protect it with his last breath, and would almost certainly end up laying down his life for it, and yet, he felt that there would always be a part of him that resented it for letting him down by not living up to his, perhaps puerile, expectations.

Naruto's hand found his and she laced their fingers together, and Shino responded by squeezing tightly. "It is," he agreed, distractedly.

Then, "How long will you be gone?"

Neither of them required an elaboration.

Naruto's sigh was soft, almost inaudible, but he heard it anyway. "I don't know. Ero-sennin said a few weeks, but that doesn't actually tell me anything_,_" she told him, running her blunt nails over his palm. "He said it was an important retrieval mission though he didn't tell me what, or _who_, we were going to find. Stupid old useless pervert," she muttered under her breath.

Shino smiled wryly.

"I'm sure it won't take too long," she continued, trying to sound convincing. "And if it does, I'll just annoy him until he has no choice but to speed things along. _That _should do it."

Had Shino been in a more forgiving mood, he might have pitied Jiraiya. If there was one thing he had the utmost faith in, it was Naruto's ability to nag people into acquiescence. As it was, he only felt vindictive spite towards the man who would be stealing Naruto away for the unforeseeable future.

"When are you leaving?" he inquired.

She glanced up at the position of the sun. "Uh…probably in another hour or two? He said early but who knows with that pervert? I'll probably end up having to hunt him down and drag him out of whatever women's bath is open. Seriously Shino, he's so _troublesome._"

They shared a grin, though it didn't last long. Naruto's expression twisted into something wary and she said, "About earlier…are you _sure _things are fine as they stand? I don't…I don't want to leave for however long and come back to find everything still…unresolved."

Shino nodded determinedly. "We're fine. More than," he added, thoughts circulating towards the new, thrilling step their relationship had taken. "We'll have things to discuss when you return, particularly in regards to your...prisoner, but as for the two us, we're…" He trailed off, not quite liking all the sappy declarations that were springing to mind.

Naruto snorted at him, appearing to have understood his dilemma.

"Alright―," she started, but Shino cut her off, determined to get the words out before they slunk back down his throat in metaphorical cowardice.

"Naruto…there are very few things that you could do, or say, or _be, _that would turn me against you. You could singlehandedly start a war with Iwa or defect and start gallivanting after Orochimaru and I still wouldn't abandon you." He turned his head to the side, self-conscious about the heat that was rising to his face at his admission. "It's…illogical, perhaps, but nevertheless true. I came to terms with the fact that I'm not always the most…rational person around you a long time ago."

"And you wonder," he heard Naruto whisper shakily, "why I'm so frightened to lose you."

Shino didn't expect to be tackled to the ground, but he didn't resist it, either. He let himself fall, ignoring the pain of the impact on both fronts, and stared up at the beautiful, wonderful, impossibly perfect creature above him.

"I love you, you know," he intoned.

It amazed him how those words, which he'd secreted within him for so long they had become almost a burden, could be said so easily.

And yet…it made perfect sense. He might not have said them where anyone could hear, but he'd spoken them nonetheless―from his heart, and with his gaze, and through his touch, and by his actions. That they were inaudible did not negate the fact that they'd been conveyed with the subtlety of a floating lantern festival, or in the manner of a secret being whispered in a gossip's ear.

The best thing of all, however, was the way Naruto was looking at him, as if she'd known all along and had just been waiting for him to say the words. Waiting, and prepared, to capture them with open palms so she could tuck them away someplace safe.

And _god_, how Shino loved her in that moment.

Naruto was…she was his sun, lighting the world around him; and his moon, a beacon of light in the darkness; and his lighthouse, a place to return to when he was lost. She was his strength, and his weakness, his armor, and his sword, his best friend, his family, and so much more.

She was his _everything_, as much a part of him as the insects he carried and just as essential as the air he breathed, and Shino didn't understand how anyone could love another person so dangerously much. It shouldn't have been possible.

Naruto laughed with the force of someone unable to contain their delight. Her eyes were shining, and the gleam made them take on the appearance of a wind-corrupted sea. Shino could see waves in them, and so much depth, more so than the average person could ever hope to explore.

It was without a doubt a mission that would take a lifetime, perhaps longer, and Shino found himself more than willing to accept the task.

"Yeah," Naruto smiled, drawing him in for another earth-shattering kiss. "Yeah, I love you, too."

* * *

**[EPILOGUE]**

* * *

"God," Naruto panted, flopping onto her back. "_God_."

Shino would have expressed a similar sentiment if he'd been in any position to speak. As it was, he settled for tucking the sweaty woman firmly into his equally drenched side while he struggled to breathe.

"That was _insane_," she murmured, and Shino couldn't help but envy her stamina. He could barely _move _and yet there she was, waving her bare arms about and holding a one-sided conversation. Had he not been so used to it, used to _her, _he would have likely felt affronted by the diversity of their physical states. Still, he consoled himself with the reminder that _he_ did not contain a demon in his gut to give him inhuman vitality.

"Oh, stop sulking," Naruto said with a snort. "You gave as good as you got. _I _certainly have no complaints." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Shino's smile came forth without his permission.

That was another thing he had long since gotten used to.

"I'm sore _everywhere_," she sighed, throwing an arm over his chest. "I mean, places I never knew _existed _hurt. Who knew you had it in you, Shino-chan?"

Shino shot her a flat look and she chuckled, amused, before falling silent.

Grateful for the reprieve, he concentrated on pinpointing which areas of his body would need to be seen to when they got home. He bore no injuries that required immediate medical attention—they wouldn't have been lazing about in the grass if there had been—but his tailbone felt bruised, he had scratch marks on his back that he could tell were sluggishly bleeding, and he had pulled a muscle where right thigh met groin.

Not for the first time Shino wondered if the benefits of sparring so often were worth the physical trauma to his person.

With a sigh of exhaustion Shino looked up at the sky, where silver-tipped clouds drifted over a waning moon that was surrounded by abstract patterns of bright starlight. Leaves rustled on skyscraping trees as a burst of wind suddenly swept through the clearing of Training Ground 37, causing gooseflesh to rise over his skin.

Shino lifted his arm to wipe the sweat from his eyes, and grunted as his muscles protested the movement. Honestly, he felt like he had been slammed into concrete from a hundred-foot drop, and if the tenderness of his skin was anything to go by, probably looked like it, too.

Shino swore it would be the last time he allowed Naruto to practice her taijutsu moves on him.

(It was also a lie, but Shino refused to acknowledge it.)

When Shino ascertained that yes, he could still move, though it would be agonizing to do so, he turned his head to peer at his partner. He wasn't in the least surprised to see that color had returned to her skin, and that what little proof there was that he'd managed to get several hits in was already fading—bruises a sickly yellow instead of the shocking purple it had once been.

A recurring thought that Shino needed to find people who _weren't _jinchuriki to spar with—for the wellbeing of his ego, if nothing else—arose.

(Though that, too, was a lie, as there was no one else Shino would rather spar with, and definitely no one else he'd ever stand to lose against.)

"What are you thinking about?" He suddenly asked, observing the way her golden eyebrows were drawing together.

"Sasuke," Naruto said simply.

_Of course_, Shino thought.

"Should I be jealous?" he inquired. He wasn't, but he supposed a man should always ask such things when their fiancée admitted to thinking about other men.

Naruto looked so affronted by his question that Shino had to reign in the urge to laugh. "Hardly. I love the bastard, I do, but I'm more likely to throttle him in his bed than willingly share it."

Shino accepted that as truth (often being the soundboard for similar threats and murder plans, it wasn't difficult) and probed, "You're dwelling on his hearing, then, I presume."

It wasn't a question.

Naruto bobbed her head and sighed. Her breath smelled of ramen, and mint leaves, and blood. It wasn't an entirely pleasant combination but it was one Shino was well accustomed to.

"Yeah. It's tomorrow. I know Tsunade-baachan said things would be fine…I mean, aside from the whole 'abandoning the village, kissing Orochimaru's ass, and just generally being a huge freaking nuisance' thing he didn't _actually _do anything against Konoha. It wasn't like he killed any of our shinobi—unless you count Itachi, which I personally don't—or, uh, blew up the village or anything. Right? And he _did _come back willingly—"

"If by 'willingly' you mean 'half-unconscious and slung over your shoulder', then I suppose you could say that."

"—so that's gotta count for something," she didn't miss a beat, "and Tsunade-baachan says the same, but the stupid elders are definitely going to kick up a fuss, I just know it. Hey, Shino, it's not treason to wish _really hard _that they just drop dead, right?"

"No, Naruto, that isn't treason," he said with amusement. It was a good thing, too, otherwise Konoha would be considerably smaller than it was now.

"Ugh, I _know _there's no use driving myself crazy about something that hasn't even happened, but I can't let it go. Stupid bastard, always making people worry about him."

"If by 'people' you mean 'Sakura-san and yourself—'" Shino grunted as she rolled on top of him with enough force to drive the air from his lungs.

"You're not helping," she growled. Then her expression shifted to something that sent his blood flowing south.

"But I'm sure you could think of other ways to _help_," she added coyly, leaning forward so her hair, which had come undone sometime during their spar, fell over him in a wavy veil. It looked almost silver under the moonlight, brightness dimmed by the surrounding night. Her eyes, too, were darker, as if they were stealing the color straight from the sky.

Naruto was beautiful. It was a basic fact of life; as surely as the sun would rise at dawn and fall at dusk, Naruto was the most beautiful person he knew. It wasn't something that Shino could forget—there was as much a chance of that happening as there was of him developing entomophobia—rather, it was something he'd simply grown accustomed to.

But there were times where Shino, despite knowing it, would be taken completely off guard by how _stunning _she actually was, and he'd find himself as breathless and enthralled as he'd been the day they first met.

Shino thought that Naruto must have caught some of the wonder reflected on his face because her smirk gave way to a smile that was soft, and loving, and _knowing_, and her eyes shone with emotions Shino was never willing to consider existed outside of the depths of his own heart.

He knew she loved him with everything she was. That too was a fact of life, though one Shino had taken a long time to fully believe. Yet, that she could love him in the same way he loved her—blindly, illogically, desperately, obsessively, _shatteringly_—was something he still could not accept.

That level of reciprocation was as much his deepest desire as it was his greatest fear.

Shino's brand of love was the kind one read about in fairytales and tragedies. It was the kind that didn't belong in the hands of humans, or anywhere near the vicinity of their realm.

The love Shino felt for Naruto bordered on being painful, sometimes, and he would not wish that on anyone, let alone the woman he loved. No matter how desperately he might have wanted it.

"Here I am, willing to show you a good time at the risk of being arrested for public indecency, and you can't even stop brain-angsting for a minute to appreciate it. I'm hurt, Shino, truly I am," Naruto said with a theatric sniff that was completely at odds with her renewed smirk.

_How I love you_, Shino thought as he felt an unbidden smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

"My apologies, Hokage-sama," Shino jested, delighting in the way her cheeks warmed at being addressed so. It wasn't exactly appropriate considering the Godaime had yet to step down, but it was only a matter of time. Tsunade-sama had been preparing Naruto to replace her for years, so Shino supposed it was good practice for when he'd have to use it as something other than an embarrassment tactic.

"I did not intend to…_brain-angst, _as you say," he continued, rolling his eyes at the term, "and I shan't endeavor to do it again."

Most people tended to think that members of the Aburame clan were emotionless automatons. In his nineteen years of life Shino had overheard innumerable people comment on how _eerie _they were for being so expressionless.

He thought most of them would die of heart failure if they were to see him now, joking playfully while a woman straddled him outside the privacy of their home.

Not that they ever would. That side of him was reserved for the only one person who was capable of eliciting it, but it was nice to imagine nonetheless. The term _dropping like flies _suddenly came to mind.

"You'd better not." Naruto's grin was all teeth as she pushed her hair to one side, grabbed the hem of her shirt, and drew it over her head, arms crossed in the way she _knew_ Shino liked.

Shino watched, spellbound, as her body undulated with the movement; breasts heaving and stomach muscles sinking to the dip of her navel. She still wore a bra—orange-colored with ridiculous frog print—but it left very little to the imagination, which made up for its aesthetic lack.

Naruto brought her hands to the arch of Shino's throat and trailed her fingers down his chest, and her molten eyes blazed when she breached the edge of his sweater and came into contact with warm skin.

"Shino," she said throatily, licking her lips in a decidedly improper manner.

"Naru—," Shino paused with a blink and turned his head to the side. His brows furrowed in concentration when he heard a discernible pattern of buzzing.

Shino glanced at her from the corner of his eye and said, "One moment, please. My allies are returning."

Naruto made a small noise of incredulity as Shino recalled the remaining kikaichuu that had either been scouting the area or lying in wait in the trees. They came to him in a black swarm shaped like a coiling tendril and he immediately gathered them to himself. Several climbed over Naruto in the process—conceivably on purpose since Naruto _always _smelled good, like forest winds and the earth after heavy rain—and she didn't even blink.

Naruto could never begin to understand how much Shino loved her just for that.

"I'm starting to think that _I_ should be asking the 'should I be jealous' questions here," she said dryly, just as the last insect sunk into his skin.

Shino smirked and kissed the pout right off her face, and she retaliated by biting his lower lip hard enough to sting. Shino didn't mind, though, because she soothed the bruised flesh with her tongue soon after and made it up to him with a searing kiss that left them both breathless.

* * *

Long ago, when Shino had been a lonely child incapable of making friends, his parents had told him that he'd one day find someone who'd accept him for who, and what, he was. After countless rejections by those he had tried to befriend, Shino lost faith in his parent's encouragement and made a tactical decision to never need anyone else.

And then a lively little girl with eyes bluer than the sky and hair brighter than the sun offered her hand in friendship, and all of Shino's careful plans and intricate walls came crumbling down at his feet.

Shino had never minded, though, because his parents had been right.

He'd found that someone after all.

* * *

_"Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, _

_and her laughter was a question he wanted __to spend his whole life answering." _

― Nicole Krauss, A History of Love

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**Author's Note:** And that is a wrap. _Phew!_ I owe so much thanks to everyone who has left comments/con-crit or has added the story to their favorites. Posting a new story is always so nerve-wrecking _(looks pointedly at my nonexistent fingernails)_ but you guys made the whole ordeal worth it. Please take a moment to let me know your thoughts about the story, alright? I'd appreciate it, lovelies.

I'll definitely be editing this story in the near future for the countless typos and inconsistencies that got past me when I wasn't paying attention. Sorry 'bout that.

As for a sequel, I _might _write a short series of omake set in the future. Honestly, I'm not sure yet. I want to focus on my other fics before I revisit this universe. At this point it's still up in the air.

Once again, thanks so much for the awesome feedback. Don't forget to drop a comment on your way out!


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